GW Ouroboros Pt 2 : The Other Side
by Black-Haired Girl
Summary: With the newly formed intervention group Ouroboros established, the pilots work together to prevent violence in the Earth-Sphere. However, confidence in their newly formed peaceful intervention technology wanes as the unthinkable happens to Heero. All five pilots come together to help try to reverse the damage. 1x2x1. Slash. Duo/Heero POV
1. Chapter 1

Part 2 Gw Ouroboros: The Other Side

Chapter One

 _The vibrations from the nearby explosions shook the MS LEO. Beta grunted and grabbed desperately for the mobile suit's arm controls but had difficulty reaching them. He was only a small child and the suit had been designed for a much larger, adult-sized soldier. He reached down to unclasp his five-point harness and scooted to the edge of the seat and gripped the upper arm controls in attempt to lock onto his target again._

 _Another blast from the vicinity of his suit's left foot caused the mech to lurch. He was tossed in his seat but managed to cling tightly to the handles. The Leo's balance gyros were whirring loudly. He toed the right foot lever as hard as he could to shift the suit's weight and compensate for the loss of center balance. The Leo wobbled but didn't fall. He stomped on the left foot lever to force the Leo's left foot to catch the shifting weight before attempting yet another lock on target. This lock was a success. He grit his teeth and snarled as he twisted his wrist to allow his thumb enough clearance over the fire switch. He pressed it and watched as the engaged enemy ship burst into a kaleidoscope of shrapnel and combustive vernier fuel. He watched with satisfaction as the destruction rained streams of fire through the air and down onto the sandy earth below._

 _He checked the status of his suit. He had taken more damage than he should have, and that was worrisome. He scanned the open desert that had been established as his new Earth terrain training area. This was the first time he had been to Earth, and battle in a higher gravity environment had proven to be quite a challenge for him. He had never needed to compensate for balance in battle before. Stabilizing thrusters on the space-type MS LEO had always been enough. Having to worry about which way was was up and keeping the suit upright at all times was something Beta had never even considered before._

 _He wasn't enjoying this. He scanned the field again for any new enemy suits or ships but found none. There were no other targets assigned. He released his death grip on the controls and let himself slip back into the deep pilot seat and waited obediently for orders._

Part One

Waking from cryosleep was nothing like rousing from a nap. The process wasn't a sudden thaw and recovery of consciousness. To thaw required time and a long adjustment period for the subject. To counter this Dr. J had programmed the timer to gradually transfer Heero from cryosleep to a medically induced state of torpor* so that he would function at a higher level once he was finally released. It had been nearly twenty four hours since the process had started.

Heero had been dreaming. He was startled out of his dream by the shifting of the pressures within his chamber as the torpor mode had finally overrode the cryostasis function.

He had total awareness and knew exactly where he was. Eventually he could crack his eyes open and take in his surroundings. His hearing returned followed by his sense of smell and taste. His mouth felt extremely dry despite the bitter moisturizing gel coating that the scientists had used to thickly coat his mouth before he had gone under. It had been the main reason he couldn't talk to Duo before he was loaded into the chamber and why he had resorted to sign language to communicate a final farewell to him.

The thought of his friend heightened his alertness and chased away the dullness of his mind. He closed his eyes and began to focus his thoughts on the former Deathscythe pilot. He could feel the tingling of his thought center synapses communicating with increasing speed as his frontal lobe began to fully activate.

In his mind's eye he could see his friend's face through the curve of the chamber glass as he banged on it and demanded to know what he had said to him.

Heero frowned. The expression caused the disused muscles in his face to sting.

No, he didn't want to think about that. He had felt guilty for asking Duo to wait for him. A year was nowhere near as long as the original cryostasis proposal had been, but it was still a lengthy amount of time. He hadn't wanted to leave him alone. He also knew that he hadn't actually asked, because a request would have allowed Duo to reply with at least two potential answers. He knew that his partner would have never denied any of his requests.

It was difficult for Heero not to take advantage of that fact.

He could feel the cooling pad against his back beginning to warm as he was brought slowly out of torpor. His body was cold but the thin metal halo that had encircled his head contained probes that prevented his body from shivering despite its chilled state.**

He felt his fingers twitch at the mention of ASL***. His voluntary muscle movement was beginning to return. It began with the most distal portions of his body and gradually spread to his torso. Finally he could tilt his head back and forth. He turned his head weakly to inspect the inside of the capsule. The sound of oxygen replacing the clathrate hydrate-forming gases used in the cryostasis filled his ears with pressure and drowned out the sound of his own raspy, shallow breathing. His muscles felt weak and there was an unusual disconnect from his limbs as if he were sending a message across a vast distance rather than directly through his cerebellum.

Soon the pressures within the chamber equalized with those in the Preventer vault and the clear, frosted lid disengaged and began to slide down away from his face. He forced himself up onto his elbows and bit his lower lip as his muscles burned in protest.

The vault was dimly lit and to his right he could see Relena's corresponding chamber lying parallel to his own. The crowd of wellwishers who had seen them off in what only felt like only an instant before were now gone and a thin layer of lunar dust had settled on the floors and gas storage tanks nearby. If things had gone according to plan it would be exactly one year ago that they were put into cryosleep.

Hopefully the rest of the plan had gone as outlined. If it had the scientists and Howard would be waiting for him in the asteroid field between Mars and Jupiter with the new retrofitted Lennon intervention ship. He wondered if Duo was there, too.

There was only one way to find out. He slid carefully from his tube and made his way slowly to the side room that he and Relena had been prepared in the year before, leaving faint dark footprints in the silvery lunar dust. The side room housed a row of lockers with various items he would have needed in the event that he was activated by Preventer.

 _They made this too easy,_ he thought smugly as he opened the nearest locker to inspect its contents. He pulled out a standard Preventer flight suit that was vacuum sealed. He opened it and slid it over his gauzed body. He checked for anything else he could use and found a sealed bag brimming with nutrition pouches and protein pastes. He tucked them under his arm and grabbed a round, plastic pouch filled with water from the bottom shelf and opened it. He rinsed his mouth clean of the moisture gel and spat the remnants on the dusty floor before downing what remained.

He found a pair of boots and put them on before grabbing gloves and a helmet and gathered them together into a Preventer duffle bag. He forewent the communication headsets and bluetooth devices, knowing that he would no longer need to contact Preventer for anything.

Finally he spotted a locker detached from the others with a thumb scan covered in a clear plastic film to protect it from the lunar dust. He peeled back the film and scanned his thumb. The lock beeped loudly and permitted him access to what was an sizeable payload of weapons and ammunition. He snatched up two handguns and their corresponding full magazines before carting his prizes back into the dingy vault.

He shouldered the bag and walked to the rear wall of the vault where he found another scan panel on the wall, this time for a palm. He peeled the seal from the top and pressed his right hand firmly to the lens. A green light illuminated the underside of his hand and the entire wall split down the center and opened to reveal the mobile suit hangar behind it.

He watched as the face and upper torso of the completed Snow White Gundam revealed itself to him.

He knew that this plan was a final step for isolation. If he took this suit now he would never be able to return to the casual lifestyle as a Preventer agent. He was giving up on a mission he had been offered just after the Eve War. Everything he had done for Preventer would have been for nothing. By leaving with the mobile suit and Relena he was leaving the organization essentially powerless.

It had been a hard choice to make. Heero hardly ever went back on his decisions, but he knew that this time it was necessary. Duo had been right about Preventer for some time now, but he had failed to see the truth. The American agent was always distrustful of everyone and he complained constantly, so this reality had flown under the radar for a while. He knew he should have taken Duo more seriously, and he regretted it.

 _I have a new mission_ , Heero ordered himself. _I will protect Relena, I will ensure that she is able to greet the future … and I will apologize to him._

He walked into the hangar and to the mobile suit with confidence and proceeded to pull off the the most spectacular heist that the Lunar Base had ever experienced.

Part Two

Lennon was situated in the middle of the densest cluster of asteroids between the planets Mars and Jupiter. Heero had put Snow White on auto direct and decided to try and sleep^* before he arrived. The cryochamber may have suspended him for a year, but it had done very little to provide adequate rest to his body. If anything the process had only stressed it.

As his suit closed in on Lennon's coordinates it began to wheen and alarm loudly. His eyes snapped open and he reflexively grabbed the controls and overrode them to land the suit into the docking hangar manually. He never trusted automatic piloting options with the fine work of close quarter maneuvering.

Once inside the ship he set Relena's shielded^** capsule on the hangar floor and straightened the Gundam to a full stand before deactivating it. As he did the cockpit plunged him into darkness, the basic ZERO system discontinuing its broadcast to him through the pilot-system interface. The cockpit began to slide open silently to reveal the interior of the hangar. He took off his helmet and clipped it onto a tether beside his seat before kicking off of the floor to float carefully out of the now darkened cockpit and hooked a hand on the external chest panel to keep himself from floating up into the air. He peered down at the suit's feet and saw that Relena's capsule had landed safely on the hangar floor.

He saw movement from an upper catwalk and immediately recognized the figure swooping down from the upper level towards the cryochamber. Duo had landed against the ground below and looked up at him.

Heero knew that a year had passed but he still couldn't help but marvel at the changes in his partner. Before he went under Duo had been gaunt, skinnier than he had ever seen him. Heero knew that depression had played a huge role in that transformation. He had lived with that guilt, knowing that the former Deathscythe pilot's abrupt retreat from Preventer had been directly a result of his own refusal to back him up when their last mission had gone awry. He had known that Duo would take his sentiments harshly, but he had never expected such an extreme transformation.

He recalled when he'd seen him ranting and raving at the Colony Police in X-18999's spaceport. Initially he had only seen him from behind, and he'd immediately noticed his smaller stature. It wasn't until he had apprehended him to keep him from getting arrested and dragged him into the stairwell that he had seen the true extent of that change. He looked tiny and weak compared to the last time Heero had seen him at Preventer. Seeing his friend so fragile had caught him off guard. They scuffled and his defensive punch had knocked the former Deathscythe pilot off of his feet, leaving him feeling like a total asshole. When Duo's normally impenetrable happy mask disintegrated in his hands and those energetic and happy eyes filled with tears Heero had experienced the worst heartache he had ever felt before. He had decided to try and make it up to him, and vowed he would never abandon Duo like that again.

He'd broken that vow when he asked him to wait for him while he went into the cryochamber. The entire flight to Lennon he had worried about what state he would find Duo in, so seeing him smiling up at him from the floor looking strong, healthy and radiant was a relief.

Heero watched with amusement as Duo's hands danced through the air in front of him, telling him enthusiastically how much of "fucking jerk" he was.

He supposed he deserved it, and was pleased that his friend had taught himself to sign, even if it was just to hurl an insult at him.

Despite the fact he had only been "gone" for a considerably shorter time than Duo had experienced he had missed him. He told him so with his hands and watched the fluid and shifting expressions of pleasure and disbelief illuminate the other pilot's face.

Their exchange was soon interrupted by Jay's voice from a nearby catwalk. He followed the sound and saw the old man smiling widely at him in greeting, flanked by Howard and Professor G.

"Alright, you kids. It's time to get to work!" Dr. J announced.

"Your download with Aurora will have to wait. We have a mission for you and the Gundam," Professor G added gruffly.

Heero sighed and straightened to stand along the edge of Gundam Snow White's cockpit hatch. Unfortunately this was always how things were with Jay. Mission first, personal things later. It had become a constant theme in Heero's life.

"Mission accepted," he said in acknowledgement. He vaulted himself over the side of the cockpit hatch and floated down to land on the floor beside Duo. The other pilot grabbed the front of his Preventer flight suit to keep him from bouncing from the floor. He could see Duo had braced himself against Relena's cryochamber as he caught him.

He was surprised at how strong the former Deathscythe pilot's grip was. He was greeted with an anxious smile. He knew Duo wasn't used to their new arrangement. Up until just before he had been put into cryosleep they had kept a quiet, casual relationship and public displays weren't something that normally transpired between them. Heero saw him nervously glance up at the scientists on the catwalk overhead as if he were checking for permission.

His hesitation was irritating. Heero grabbed his face and forced him to look at him for a long moment before smothering him with a rough kiss. As he pulled back he resisted the urge to kiss the stunned and dazed American again and let his hands drop from the sides of his face.

"What are you waiting for?" He asked as he watched Duo trying to compose himself.

"Eh? What-" the other pilot began, confusion plainly playing across his face.

"Get in the Gundam," Heero commmanded.

"Wait a sec, what? Me? I thought you were gonna-"

"Haven't you been training with Aurora in simulation?" Heero asked casually. He felt Duo's hand drop from the front of his flight suit.

"Yeah, but-"

"Then go." Heero interrupted. He watched as Duo's expression transformed from panicked confusion to that of confident determination. He was smiling widely.

"Any day now!" Professor G yelled from overhead.

"But what about you?" Duo was hesitating again. Heero cast a glare up at the grinning Dr. J who was leaning over the catwalk railing watching them.

"Didn't you tell him anything?" Heero snarled up at the old man. Jay laughed and shrugged his square shoulders.

"I thought you would want to," the old doctor said cheerfully. Heero looked down to see Duo's confusion had returned, and was colored by blatant irritation.

"Shit, now I know where you get all that cryptic crap from," his partner was muttering. He had put his hands on his hips and was staring at him as if demanding an explanation.

"You are Snow White's pilot, Duo. I am only going to assist."

He watched Duo's dark violet eyes widened to three times their normal size. "What!?"

"I mean… if you can't do it I guess I could ask Wufei," Heero added, watching as Duo nearly jumped out of his skin at the idea of losing this chance to pilot.

"Woah, hold your horses! Hell no, I can pilot this thing." Duo's expression was bordering on devious.

"Prepare for a bond through Wing-One. You'll need to switch into the ferroelectric flight suit," Heero informed him. Duo nodded and smiled brightly as he gave him a playful salute.

"Roger that."

* * *

Footnotes:

* " **Torpor** is a state of decreased physiological activity in an animal, usually by a reduced body temperature and metabolic rate". - Wikipedia. AKA Induced sleep state, as opposed to suspended animation.

** **Posterior hypothalamus** , primary motor center controls shivering. NASA has proposed a torpor plan that would suppress the body's want to shiver. By doing this they would be able to maintain the body at an ideal temperature of 10°F, which would reduce the body's metabolic rate by 50-70%.

*** **ASL** , American Sign Language.

^* Heero always sleeps away every extra moment he has in the show. When Frozen Teardrop called him "sleeping beauty" I couldn't stop laughing because it is an accurate representation. For tactical reasons we can excuse this off as he knows how to manage and recharge his energy.

^** I'm assuming the ornate exterior panels on the capsules were intended to block out radiation.

/AN: I felt horrible for leaving some people hanging with the end of the last story, so I am going to go ahead and post this as a placeholder for the next story in the series. Enjoy, and thanks again for the feedback! /


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The Wing-One command console was located on a smaller cruiser called the Zhànshì*, though Heero soon learned that Wufei tended to call it Zàn for short. The cruiser** was medium-sized as far as assault ships went and was equipped with all of the latest jamming and cloaking devices available. It's primary purpose was for support of the Gundam, though it had its own various disabling weapons.

It was Wufei's baby. As far as Heero could tell Wufei appeared very comfortable in the ship, and had customized and outfitted it to all of his own personal specifications.

He followed the Chinese pilot in silence as he was given the tour.

"This is the medical lab. Most of the basic medical procedures here are automated." He was gesturing casually to a bright white, square room with a single operating table fused to the floor in the center. He continued floating down a narrow hall and led him to a wide, open doorway that exposed what Heero already recognized as the Wing-One and ZERO*^ command room.

Heero was in awe. The setup was impressive***. Two seats were situated toboggan-style, one in front of the other. The seat in the rear had been lifted so that the feet of the higher pilot were level with the head of the lower. The lower pilot seat was nearly identical to that within Snow White, modeled after Wing ZERO with the system's translucent sphere.

"Won't my connection with ZERO effect your ability to control the ship?" Heero asked as he inspected his new equipment.

"No. I'll be wearing a neural shield in my helmet. ZERO can't penetrate it, but I will still be able to pair^*** with you through Wing-One so we can communicate freely that way. The two of us and the Gundam pilot," Wufei explained as he retrieved his own Ouroboros styled navy blue helmet tethered to his upper seat. He fixed it carefully over his head and retracted the Wing-One immersion shield from his view and regarded him for a long moment before adding softly, "it's good to have you back."

Heero nodded and grabbed his own sleek black helmet from his lower seat and hopped over the railing and began to settle himself into the familiar replica of his old system. Unlike Wufei, who was sporting the new blue Ouroboros uniform, Heero had changed into the ferroelectric black G-suit to facilitate his pair and bond through Wing-One with Duo in Gundam Snow White. The thick, inky black flight suit pulsed with static energy as he sat on the seat and he could feel it secure his back through magnetism. No longer did he need the typical five-point harness when piloting with Wing-One. He could hear Wufei fastening himself into his own pilot seat with a faint rustle.

Heero waited for Wufei to give him the signal before activating ZERO.

Wufei's intricate signal consisted of kicking Heero in the back of the head^***. Heero grunted as his head was knocked forward unexpectedly and glared over his shoulder before shoving his own helmet on and activated the raw, original ZERO system.

Within moments his vision was filled with the bright, familiar golden light of ZERO as it pulled at his thoughts and searched for what his goals were. Heero had spent the majority of his life training with the system, and connecting to it had become second nature. Immediately ZERO began presenting him with options, potential scenarios, and outcomes for the upcoming intervention. It weighed his thoughts against reality and began to force raw data from his surroundings into his mind.

It was easy for Heero to consciously override ZERO. He allowed it to tell him arrival times and show him their upcoming mission before he suppressed it's intervening energy for the moment and focused on connecting to its sister system Wing-One.

Wing-One's musical alert tone chimed as it began pairing the three pilots together.

 **Wing-One activation complete. Black Alpha, Pilot 02, and Pilot 05 paired,** the smooth computerized female voice of Wing-One announced.

" _Yo? Testing… testing… Wufei, you there?"_ Duo's voice was, naturally, the first one to come through the connection.

"Confirmed. I hear you, 02." Wufei was practically grumbling.

" _Not a big fan of these code names. Let's change it up! Why does Heero get to be Black Alpha and we get stuck with these old numbers? I wanna be … um… Cobra. And Wufei, you should be Serpent."_ Duo was rambling.

" _They are practically the same thing, Maxwell."_ Wufei was clearly annoyed. _"05 is fine with me. I don't need a new code name."_

" _Aw come on, aren't you tired of that corny number game by now? I got it! Mamba."_

" _I don't want to be a snake."_

" _Mantis!"_

" _Maxwell…"_

" _Mantis, let's begin moving to the coordinates,"_ Heero announced, his own thoughts overriding the two as they bickered.

" _Ha! See, even Heero thinks Mantis is good. Wing-One, from now on I'm Cobra Commander, and Pilot 05 will be known as Proud Mantis. Got it?"_ Duo instructed brightly.

 **Affirmative. New code names confirmed.**

Heero could hear Wufei breathe a long, heavy sigh of defeat from the seat behind him. He smiled into his immersion helmet and waited as the system began to scan his surroundings and present him with the images from the hull cameras of the Zàn. The ship was moving slowly away from the much larger, dark grey painted Lennon station hiding within a loose wall of asteroids. Heero could see that some of the asteroids themselves were fused together and fastened into a makeshift barrier that provided a visual shield for the enormous, triangular Lennon.

As they began moving away from the larger ship it disappeared from their scanners. It was outfitted with sophisticated cloaking technology that even the Zàn couldn't detect.

Heero could see from his portside that Gundam Snow White was cruising along beside him. The suit was weaving effortlessly through the asteroid field with Duo as its pilot. The enormous nanomachine-enhanced angel wings were glistening and glowing in the otherwise darkened field. The viridescent green Search Eye on the suit's chest was leaving a faint motion blur in its wake.

Once they cleared the asteroid field the Zàn began picking up speed and activated low level cloaking. Heero could see Duo pushing Snow White to its limits. The Gundam was gradually pulling ahead of them.

" _You're moving out of range,"_ Heero reminded Duo as he was vanishing into the distance.

" _Yeah-yeah, I won't lose your precious suit, Heero. Relax, huh?"_ Duo replied playfully. Heero could see him rolling the suit around in impressive tumbles and shifting back and forth with barrel rolls, occasionally unfurling Snow White's enormous, sparkling wings as he did so.

It was strange to see a suit that so closely resembled Wing Zero being piloted by someone else. However, Heero was still satisfied with the decision he had made with Dr. J a year before to make the former Deathscythe pilot Snow White's primary. Duo Maxwell was the most talented pilot he had ever met and even though the American had very little confidence in his own ability he had proven himself time and again that he was extremely skilled, despite the fact that he had received very little training.

Heero had found Duo's file in Jay's database and had read various reports made by Professor G about his partner's progress during his couple of formative years before the start of Operation Meteor. His reaction times during cognitive control tasks had been measured at 197 milliseconds. Heero's personal best was only 195^^.

The similar reaction times made sense. Duo had bested him a few times during Operation Meteor, namely when they had first met at the naval base. He had caught Heero off his guard and shot him while he was distracted by Relena, and then managed to shoot him a second time when Heero has attempted to retaliate. He had not expected to meet anyone planetside who could do that. His first couple of encounters with people on Earth had made him overconfident, and the Deathscythe pilot had quickly put him in check.

Heero reflexively crossed his arms over his chest as the Zàn began cruising past the gravitational field of Mars. Duo had doubled back with Snow White and was only 200km to the starboard side.

" _Wing-One, initiate pilot-command bond."_ Heero instructed through his conscious connection with the system.

 **Cobra Commander and Black Alpha, bonded.** Wing-One reported.

Heero could feel the tsunami of Duo's emotions crashing against his mental seawall, churning and foaming with a level of chaos that was uniquely his partner. It had been a while since they had bonded through Wing-One, and it took Heero a couple of minutes go navigate the complex maze of scattered thoughts.

 _How can anyone live like this?_ Heero wondered.

" _Hey! Welcome to my brain!"_ Duo's mental connection exclaimed. Heero could feel Duo's warm amusement as he intruded on his feelings. _"Just think of it as a theme park."_

" _More like a carnival funhouse,"_ Heero suggested. He felt Duo's confidence swell as he saw Snow White unfurl it's feathery wings and shoot off at breakneck speed in front of them.

" _There's method to this madness,"_ Duo said enthusiastically as he doubled back again.

" _Stop showing off, you're going to exhaust yourself."_ Heero scolded.

" _Aw, you regrettin' giving me the keys to this thing?"_ Duo teased as he rolled suit across the hull of the Zàn.

" _Yes."_ Heero replied. He knew Duo would be able to feel the discrepancy between his words and how he truly felt.

" _ETA ten minutes,"_ Wufei announced. _"Maxwell, you will need to-"_

" _Cobra Commander,"_ Duo corrected.

" _I'm not calling you-"_

" _Wing-One, what's my code name?"_

 **Pilot Duo Maxwell's code name is "Cobra Commander"** , the system replied.

Heero felt Duo's satisfaction from teasing the Chinese pilot.

" _... Cobra Commander, you need to start cloaking and prepare for intervention."_ Wufei finally grumbled, defeated.

" _Yeah, okay. So this is pretty straightforward, right? L4 police forces are having a shootout with some thugs on a mining station?"_ Duo asked. Heero could feel the other pilot's excitement building as they neared their destination.

" _Yes,"_ Heero replied as he began performing long-range scans of the area. He could pick up most of the details on the moon and the faint magnetic waves arcing around Earth's orbit. _"Disable both sides of the conflict with no human casualty."_

Duo's confidence was stifling. _"Roger that, they'll never see me coming."_

And they hadn't. Wufei had situated the Zàn in open space just outside of the range of the L4 Colony Defense cannons. They watched cloaked and on standby as Snow White deployed to the scene and began evading the beam volleys peppering the open space between the colony and it's mining facility. Heero could see the rebellion group's rudimentary mining mobile suits attempting to retreat into the darkness of the hatches and folds of the mining station as Snow White burst onto the scene and began slicing their legs and arms off with surgical precision.

" _Try using the EMP pulse gun to disable,"_ Wufei suggested.

" _Hey, man. Don't tell me how to do my job,"_ Duo replied irritably. Despite the comment Heero saw that Duo had taken the suggestion and shot at an incoming L4 Colony Police Virgo with the EMP weapon. A large web of purple electricity slammed into the Virgo and overloaded its flight controls, leaving it to float helplessly in the direction it has last thrusted.

Heero heard Duo chuckling over the normal COM speakers.

ZERO was even having trouble keeping up with Snow White as Duo began quickly knocking out the targets. Heero sat back and took in all of the projections ZERO was providing him, but the results weren't necessary. The task had been too simple, and there was only one suit to manage at this point. Eventually Heero deactivated ZERO and crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Duo expertly disable all of the targets.

" _All targets neutralized,"_ Wufei reported as he began a speedy retreat with the Zàn.

" _Wait a minute, that was it?"_ Duo whined. Heero could feel his disappointment overriding his former unrestrained excitement.

" _Yes. The conflict is over, you have disabled both sides. It's time to retreat,"_ Heero informed him.

" _Not bad for a first run,"_ Wufei conceded mildly as he plotted their course to return to Lennon.

" _Wow, that was anticlimactic as hell,"_ Duo's energy was deflating rapidly.

" _These missions will only involve small skirmishes, you can't expect to have the same challenges of full on war,"_ Heero reasoned. He could feel Duo bristling abruptly in response.

" _You think I don't know that?"_ Snow White's pilot's words burned across Heero's consciousness. _"I've been training on these kind of missions for a fucking year. You know, while you were having a slumber party with Relena."_

There it was. Heero had wondered how long it would be until the issue had been brought up. He could feel Duo's now uncapped bitterness pressing through their connection. Heero frowned, his former guilt about having to ask Duo to wait so long alone moved to the forefront of his thoughts. He knew that the other pilot would be able to feel it. He started to reply, to apologize to him, but their connection was abruptly ended. A hollow, empty sensation replaced the part of Heero's mind that Duo had formerly inhabited through their bond. Both the pair and bond were gone, leaving only Wufei remaining on the paired connection.

"Looks like you have some cleaning up to do," Wufei verbalized over the COM. "I don't envy you."

"Yeah." Heero watched as Gundam Snow White shot past the Zàn towards Lennon at excessive speed and vanished out of scanning range.

* * *

Footnotes:

* "Zhànshì" = warrior. "Zhàn/Zàn" = to support, to help. (Mandarin Chinese)

** Ouroboros Zhànshì, stealth cruiser length 250m, main thrusters, gravity control, vernier thrusters, fold system, Zero-One pair and bond capable.

*** Zàn Dual-Pilot Cockpit Setup similar to this configuration but less bulky, and with ZERO implemented for the bottom pilot.

^* "The **ZERO (Zoning & Emotional Range Omitted) System** is a technology for interfacing the brain of the pilot with the mobile suit's computer". - Gundam Wing, Source: Gundam Wikia.

^** (From GWO: What Friends Are For) - **Wing-One** is a new operating and interfacing system developed by Preventer to advance the cooperation of two or more pilots in a squad. Originally developed by Zechs and Treize, though never implemented due to the lack of available technology at the time, Noin worked with Heero to integrate aspects of ZERO into a new communication system. There are three main functions of this system. **PAIR** \- allows communications between pilots through conscious thought. **BOND** \- Allows the pilots to feel emotions and anticipations of the pilots connected to it. **JOIN** \- Allows two or more pilots to coordinate seamlessly in attack by sharing all aspects of their minds, creating a single entity functioning through the cooperation of multiple parts. (JOIN feature is limited to 3 minutes and the suits involved must be within close proximity to one another for it to work. In part one Heero and Duo JOINED but it exhausted Duo and he passed out after the 3 minute mark.)

^*** Gunners on tanks often sit below the tank commander in a similar configuration to what Heero and Wufei have. The tank commander will often kick the gunner in the shoulder or the back of the helmet to get his attention. - Source: Army bros.

^^ Navy Top Gun pilots average 200 - 225 milliseconds reaction time.

* * *

/AN: I have a images and schematics to include in this work. To get the complete experience with media, please check my Archive of our own account for more. Psud: BHG /


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Part One

When Duo touched Snow White down into the Lennon's docking hangar he noticed that the atrocity that was Relena's cryochamber had been disassembled. A pile of parts was where the rose-shaped chamber had formerly been and the inner tube had been removed and carted off to what Dr. J often jokingly referred to as the "Honeymoon Suite."

He deactivated the Gundam and quickly evacuated the cockpit and hurried into the main body of the ship without a word to Howard or Professor G, who were both watching him curiously from a nearby catwalk.

 _Fuck this shit,_ Duo was seething with frustration. Well, multiple frustrations. He pulled himself through the hatch into the main hall of the ship and felt it's partial gravity tugging at him. As he neared the center of the ship the gravity began to increase and by the time he had made it to the communal locker room his feet were firmly sticking to the floor. He lumbered to his locker and banged it open and began digging around for a clean jumpsuit. He found one balled up in the bottom of his locker, sniffed it to make sure it was clean and laid it out on the bench behind him. He yanked the black ferroelectric flight suit and boots from his body and shoved them carelessly into the locker before turning to change into his body-clinging navy blue and white Ouroboros organization jumpsuit. He tugged the zipper up to the middle of his chest and checked the mirror on the inside of his locker door. His hair was a mess from the immersion helmet and right below his collarbone a small dark purple bruise had begun to form. He leaned into the mirror to inspect it closely and realized it was in the shape of the red gundanium lock key Heero had given him in Cinq.

"Shit," he cursed loudly, his voice echoing through the empty locker room. He had forgotten about the black flight suit's constrictive properties. The key had been squeezed into his skin as the suit had adjusted and compensated for G-forces during the short mission.

He let his index finger gingerly tap against the bruise and winced at the subsequent pain before situating the key and chain gently on the center of his chest. He zipped the suit over it, shoved his feet into a pair of navy blue boots and began fussing with his long braid. He had just finished unraveling it and combing it out with his fingers when he heard footsteps coming through the locker room door.

He looked over his shoulder to see Chang Wufei cross the room to open his own locker and change into his casual Ouroboros jumpsuit. Duo turned to study himself in his locker mirror and saw in its reflection the large black, yellow and green dragon Ouroboros tattoo that covered the whole of the Chinese man's back. The dragon, the symbol for the lost *Long Clan of L5, had been the inspiration for the name of their new intervention organization.

"You're being childish," Wufei said, his back still turned to him. Duo frowned into his mirror and began braiding his hair.

"Mind your own business, Fei." Duo mumbled as he tied off the end of the braid and tossed it over his shoulder. He saw Wufei pull his suit up over his shoulders and zip it.

"This is my business. I have watched you mope around this ship pining over Yuy, and now that he is finally here you've given him the cold shoulder."

"I said mind your own business, man."

"You two need to work it out. I'm not going to be the third wheel of this dysfunctional relationship, Maxwell."

Duo stiffened and put his hands on his hips. He spun around on his heels and scowled across the locker room at his friend, who was busying himself with straightening the collar of his uniform. "I'm not asking you to."

"You know what your problem is?" Wufei had finished adjusting himself and turned around slowly to regard him with a dark, narrowed gaze. His thickly muscled arms were crossed loosely over his chest. "You can't handle the fact that Heero is human."

Duo laughed bitterly and shook his head. "Seriously? You think I don't know Heero-fucking-Yuy is human? Trust me, I've thoroughly inspected that body of his and I can assure you he doesn't have any hidden USB jacks anywhere on him."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it. You idolize Yuy worse than anyone. He can't make a mistake because you'll punish him for it."

Duo scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me? I know the guy makes mistakes, I have been present for most of em! HELL! If we wanna get right down to it I'm probably the biggest mistake he's ever made!"

"Then why are you so angry right now?" Wufei's eyebrows were high upon his forehead and his expression was expectant.

Duo automatically opened his mouth to spit an acidic retort but no words came out. He blinked, crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "I… well um…"

"I can tell you why," Wufei said slowly, his words carefully presented so as not to agitate the American pilot any further. "You don't feel appreciated."

Duo frowned and shook his head. "That's not it, I mean…" his voice faded away as Wufei's words eventually dawned on him. "Well, I mean, yeah. A little I guess."

Wufei shook his head and sighed. He closed his locker and crossed the room to place a firm hand on Duo's upper arm. His expression was somber and all of his annoyance seemed to have melted away. "Stop wasting your time with the people you love, Duo. There is no telling how long we have left in this world. People can be with you one moment only to vanish from existence the next."

Duo stared dumbly as Wufei released his arm and began making his way to the locker room door. His friend's words had left him feeling like shit. Duo knew that Wufei has lost everything he had ever loved. The Chinese pilot hardly ever spoke about it but Duo knew that his home colony A0206 had been destroyed shortly before Operation Meteor, and that Chang had a wife at one point who had perished around the same time.

He saw Wufei pause at the door to glance over his shoulder. "You know for two people who have shared Wing-One's bond you don't know much about one another."

Duo watched as the former Shenlong pilot vanished into the hallway. He closed his locker door and slumped down heavily onto a bench and tried to rub the tension from his face with both hands. He knew he was being quick to fly off the handle, and he knew he was being too sensitive but he couldn't help himself. It was a struggle he often experienced: watching himself spin out of control but being helpless to stop the process.

 _Why am I mad?_ Wufei was right about him not feeling appreciated. He had done a lot for Heero in the past and never received a thank you, but things had changed. Heero had thanked him before he had left for cryostasis. So why didn't he feel like it was enough?

"Man, I'm so moody…" he mumbled into his hands. His stomach snarled in agreement and twinged a pathetic request for sustenance. He decided to appease the insatiable Cerberus that had taken up permanent residence inside his gut and hopped to his feet on a mission to find some food.

He made his way to the galley of the ship where there were freezers of pre-made frozen and freeze dried foods. He dug around in the nearest freezer and found a frozen pizza. He stuffed it into a specialized heater-rehydrator and set the timer for five minutes. He perched himself up on the counter and snatched a water bottle from the shelf beside him and chugged it. He watched the final countdown of the heater trip over 60 seconds and tick down to one. Just as it beeped he saw movement pass by the galley door porthole window. His stomach whined in protest but his curiosity got the best of him and he peeled himself away from the pizza to peek out of the door and into the hall.

He caught the rear end of a quickly moving Heero Yuy still in his black flight suit rounding the corner. He frowned and glanced longingly at his steaming hot pizza, cursed under his breath and decided to stalk Japanese man to see what he was up to.

He moved stealthily into the hallway and peered around the corner Heero had disappeared behind just in time to see him entering the Honeymoon Suite.

 _Of course he's going in there…_ Duo thought with a touch of resentment. He shook his head as he stopped just outside of the cryostasis storage room and crouched down to keep his face from appearing in the porthole window on the door. He pressed his ear firmly against the door and listened for a few moments, but couldn't hear anything aside from the faint humming of the gravity generators beneath his feet. He frowned and stood up slowly to peer through the porthole and into the room. He could see the long, clear tube holding suspended Relena in the middle of the room on a table. Squat filters and life support systems were clustered around the base. The room was dark except for a faint, yellow glowing light illuminating her slender figure.

Duo couldn't look away. She looked like a pale, unpainted porcelain doll clad in nothing but a gauzy tube top and bottom. He let his eyes scan the room, but he couldn't see Heero anywhere. At least he wasn't near the tube. Duo's stomach gurgled irritably, obviously feeling betrayed.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, give me a sec." He whispered down to the three headed beast. He pat his stomach to comfort it before pressing his hand firmly on the door to open it a crack.

Part Two

Heero finished recording all of Relena's baseline stats and compared them to the printouts from when she was first stored in the Preventer vault on the Lunar Base. She appeared to be stable which was a relief. He wasn't sure how the flight to the asteroid belt would effect her body in suspension. The tube was not intended to be relocated without a team of medical professionals maintaining it, but it was a gamble Relena had been willing to take.

He sighed and finally relaxed, satisfied that everything was going to plan. He picked up her vitals folder and the clipboard with the intent of bringing the new data to his room to log into his computer. When he tried to leave he felt a sudden jolt of resistance from the other side of the door. He peered around to see Duo sprawled out in the ground in the hallway rubbing his nose.

"Duo," the other pilot's name rolled off his tongue, his surprise evident. He tucked the folder under his arm and knelt down to try and help him up. The American waved his helping hands away and scrambled up to his feet with an embarrassed expression.

"Jeez, watch where you're going!" Duo said unconvincingly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see you there spying on me," Heero said quietly as he straightened to a stand. He suppressed a smirk as Duo's face revealed his obvious guilt.

"I wasn't spying. I was looking for you. We gotta talk," Duo said as he began to rub the back of his head with his hand. "What are you doing in there anyway?"

Heero grabbed the file from underneath his arm and waved it at him. "Just collecting data."

"Oh. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not really."

Heero heard an angry grumble from the vicinity of Duo's stomach. He saw his partner put his hand on his growling abdomen as if to muffle the sound. "Well, I'm starving, guess I'll go now since you're busy," he blurted as he began to retreat towards the ship's galley. Heero nodded and followed him.

"I'm not all that busy," he replied as he trailed him into the empty galley. The smell of freshly prepared pizza filled his nose. He was suddenly very hungry himself. He saw his partner pull a recently warmed pizza from the oven with a pair of heat resistant mittens and began eagerly cutting it. Heero set his data to the side and accepted an offered slice and bit into it gratefully.

Duo inhaled his first slice within seconds and had already moved on to his second. Heero was only halfway through his first. Finally Duo paused mid bite to talk. "How is she doing, anyway?"

"Fine," Heero said quietly before continuing to eat. He saw Duo finish his second slice and dive for a water.

"So, now that she's here, what's next? She just stays like that until when? I mean, before Preventer was going to call upon her when she was 'needed' but that seems kinda vague, ya know? Did she have a specific time she wanted to thaw out?" Duo had asked. He seemed genuinely interested. Heero shrugged a shoulder and shook his head.

"She never set any specific dates, she only wanted to return if things got the way they were before during the Eve Wars. I don't think things could get that bad anytime soon," Heero replied slowly. Duo had handed him the bottle of water. He accepted it and took a small sip and frowned.

Heero hadn't like the idea of Relena going into cryosleep. He had once been for the idea when it was just the two of them. He had felt like he no longer served a purpose. She had felt similarly; that her work was pointless now that peace was becoming more commonplace. She had set the ball rolling on her plans for Total Peace and had stopped doing the legwork on legislation to become a figurehead. Heero knew Relena didn't care for being the face of peace. She thrived when she was busy actively fighting for something. It was one of the biggest things they had in common. When she had proposed this plan, pushed by Director Une, he had been against it initially. Eventually he felt like he had to, only because Relena would need someone she knew to go with her into the future. At the time Duo was out of the picture and he had nothing left to lose. He had agreed to go with her. Then things had gotten muddled up and Duo came back into his life again with fists swinging. He was glad of it, but it had made his previous commitment to Relena more complicated. Preventer had denied the new ARMISTICE system to replace Heero in the future with an A.I. version of himself to protect Relena. After their decision he had spoken to her about the plans. She still wanted to go into the future, but she didn't want Heero to go with her. She had told him he had sacrificed enough, but had implored him to at least help establish a system that would ensure Total Peace.

That was exactly what he was doing now. Working to make an organization that would protect Relena until the time was right for her return, as well as maintain peace and her vision of disarmament within the Earth-Sphere. If he kept up his part of the agreement she would never return from her journey into time.

Dr. J had offered to take over Relena's care, but Heero had insisted that he do it himself. He didn't trust anyone to make sure that she was safe and properly cared for.

Heero was snapped out of his thoughts by Duo offering him another slice of pizza. He looked down and realized it was the only piece left. The American had effectively destroyed the rest by himself. He shook his head at the offer and watched as Duo shrugged and ate it before continuing to rummage around for something else.

Relena had always known that he and the former Deathscythe pilot had kept a casual sexual relationship during Operation Meteor. When they officially started dating shortly after the Eve War Relena had asked specifically about Duo. He had told her everything. At the time Heero wasn't sure what his own sexual preferences were. He had never had the chance to experiment. Relena had been one of the only women he had ever encountered outside of battle, and he had never been intimidate with a woman before her.

When he had finally confided in her that he was gay she had taken it calmly. He knew it bothered her, but he couldn't keep it from her anymore, especially if they were going to go into cryosleep together.

The desires he had when he was intimate with Duo just weren't the same as the feelings he had for Relena. He tried explaining that to her and she had asked him what he specifically liked about men. What he liked about Duo.

His partner had found a candybar hidden deep in the back of the highest cabinet. Obviously it was someone's personal stash. That didn't stop Duo from sampling it.

He had told her he didn't know. He knew it was a lame response but he hadn't put words to those feelings before. He had given it plenty of thought since.

He remembered when he had first saw him. He had been shocked at his appearance. Here was this kid who was built for battle and yet he sported a long cumbersome braid of hair. Heero had always been instructed to keep his hair off of his shoulders to keep it from interfering with the seal necessary between a helmet and flight suit**. He had never seen anyone with hair that long, let alone wrapped in a coil like that.

He had become transfixed by that hair for months, and found himself trying to touch it, often when the Deathscythe pilot wasn't looking. Eventually Duo had noticed and laid a trap for him. The American had been working on his mobile suit and was crouched down inside one of Deathscythe's open joint panels. Heero had been walking past and saw that his long braid had been left unattended, draped over the edge of a panel. As he walked by he slid his hands carefully along the exposed length. He had come to find out later that Duo had coated his hair with marking powder. Heero had denied touching it when confronted about it, having no idea his face was covered with grey smudges. Duo had jokingly pointed it out and offered to let him touch his hair. Heero had refused the offer initially but a couple days later he had been tempted by it again. He had grabbed it while they were in a conversation about their next mission. Their first sexual exchange happened shortly after.

He watched as Duo flitted back and forth around the galley. As he passed him Heero reached out to grab the long tail of hair swinging against his back. His partner stopped in his tracks and turned to look at him with wide, reflective eyes.

 _"_ _What is it about him?"_ Heero could hear Relena's voice questioning him.

"I'm sorry about what happened on Zàn." Heero said as he cradled Duo's braid in his hand. "You're a good pilot. One of the best pilots I've ever met."

He was a fantastic pilot. It had been one of Heero's first impressions of him. He watched as Duo smiled and crossed his arms.

"You mean I am _the_ best pilot you've ever met," he replied smugly. Heero nodded. "It's okay you don't gotta gush about how great I am," Duo teased with a bright grin.

"You're the best pilot I know," Heero said flatly, his eyes locking onto his partner's. He began gently reeling the other pilot closer by his braid. "You're also extremely intelligent, loyal, self-driven, strong, fearless in battle, resourceful, easygoing, energetic, compassionate, vibrant-"

"Woah! What the heck is all this?"

"You're a good friend, you make people feel better by just being around them, you-"

"Heero! Seriously what the fuck?" Duo laughed and tried to put his hands on Heero's mouth to dam the stream of compliments from flowing forth. Heero smirked against his hand. His voice may have been muted but it didn't stop him from continuing in sign language. He proceeded to tell him in ASL that he was sincere, adventurous and friendly, incredibly sexy and that he loved that Duo could make him laugh.

They were now standing toe to toe. Heero dropped the braid and grabbed his shoulders and kissed the palm of the hand Duo was using to smother his mouth.

"What's gotten into you?" Duo asked, bewildered. Heero shrugged and smiled against Duo's palm.

'Hopefully you will,' Heero signed slowly into the air, causing his partner to chuckle in response. 'Your room, ten minutes?'

Duo nodded and let his hands fall from his mouth. Heero leaned in to press a chaste kiss against the corner of the American's devious grin.

"Damn, Heero. That was smooth. Real smooth."

* * *

* Long Clan - Mandarin "Lóng" is Dragon.

** Not to mention it is horrible for hand to hand combat, as Heero continually demonstrates.


	4. Chapter 4

/AN: Happy Weekend everyone! I wanted to drop some light material. The chapters after this are going to be dark./

Chapter Four

Part One

To say that Duo was a little sexually frustrated was an understatement.

Heero's arms were shaking as he tried to hold up his own weight and the weight of his partner. He was exhausted, drenched in sweat and barely able to catch his breath as Duo worked him from behind while manipulating his arousal at the same time. It had been hours that they had been at this, and even after two consecutive climaxes the American still wasn't satisfied.

He didn't think he could cum anymore, but Duo's well-practiced fingers had somehow urged his body to the cusp of a third orgasm. He grit his teeth and felt every muscle in his body begin to burn as they reluctantly wound to their breaking point. He heard his own voice moaning deeply between ragged pants. Just as he felt his body tipping over the edge Duo pulled out of him and roughly flipped him onto his back against the bed.

Heero knew what Duo was looking for. It was no secret that the former Deathscythe pilot loved watching him lose control, especially at the pinnacle of pleasure.

Duo had grabbed his arms and pinned his hands over his head. Heero didn't resist. Duo had become incredibly strong within the year Heero had been gone, and he wasn't even sure he would be able to fight his way out of the hold if he had tried. He felt him fumbling over his head to secure his wrists with one hand while the other slipped down his tense stomach and grabbed his now very sore but still painfully engorged erection. He winced at his touch, which only seemed to excite him more.

He began to tremble as his body rushed back towards the apogee of his desire. Duo was leaning down close to his face like a succubus, feeding off of his facial expressions and the pulsing electricity that was burning across his body. He couldn't hold back any longer. He closed his eyes to block out his partner's smirking face and fell into a swirling pit of pleasure and embarrassment.

He didn't know why he felt embarrassed every time they did this. It was something he always looked forward to and he found great pleasure in. He supposed it was because he never let anyone see him so helpless and susceptible, and that the most hidden part of him became exposed at Duo's whim. It was out of character for him to be so out of control, but it was his partner's privilege to experience him like this and one he often exercised.

He felt Duo slide his sticky hand down to his own cock and forced it back inside him with a loud moan. At this point Heero's body was twitching uncontrollably from overstimulation and his brain was beginning to override the bombardment of sensations by numbing him. He couldn't feel anything but a vague, heavy pressure against his pelvis as Duo entered him again. After a series of rough, frantic thrusts Heero felt his partner tense before he fell limply against his body, panting.

They lie together for a few minutes in silence, quivering with exhaustion. He could feel Duo's warm breath softly illuminating the center of his chest. Eventually he disengaged from his body and flopped down beside him on the narrow, single bed. They were both sticky and sweaty but neither could work up the energy or motivation to move.

"You gotta connect to ZERO tomorrow," Duo mumbled. Heero opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. He had forgotten about the A.I. that had been created through ZERO with his personality and abilities*. He had asked Duo to report to the A.I. all of the events he would miss in the year he was gone. Dr. J had suggested the plan, and had said he could easily upload the information from the A.I. Aurora through ZERO upon his return so he would be seamlessly informed of the progress and systems implemented for Ouroboros.

He nodded and let his arms down from over his head to rest at his sides. His fingers brushed against Duo's braid, which had pooled itself on the bed between their bodies. He grabbed it gently and buried his fingers into its cool, silky mass. He saw Duo fiddling with something out of the corner of his eye and tilted his head to watch him rolling something between his fingers. It was the key he had given him in Cinq. He had noticed a bruise on his partner's chest earlier but had failed to make the connection that the key had been responsible for it until now.

"You need to take that off next time," Heero said quietly. He saw Duo's fingers freeze at the suggestion.

"Hell no, this is mine. I'm not taking it off for anything," Duo replied quickly. Heero saw him wrap his entire palm around the small red lock key defensively.

"It will interfere with the pressure adjustment and keep hurting you. Just take it off for mission. Why do you have to make everything so complicated?" Heero said plainly. He felt Duo's elbow jab roughly into his side.

"Listen, you keep lecturing me and I'll fuck the shit out of you again," Duo threatened playfully. Heero shook his head and smirked.

"Then I guess I'll have to keep lecturing you. Let's start with your flight patterns. Especially through the asteroid field. They were completely erratic and nonsensical. You need to recalibrate your-"

Duo had tried to shove him off of the bed but Heero's reflexes were still sharp. He snatched the edge of the bed to brace himself and gave the former Deathscythe pilot a rough shove back and nearly knocked him off of the narrow mattress. His partner laughed before settling back into the center of the bed.

"You're lucky I'm tired right now or you would be in trouble," Duo said with a grin.

"We really should shower," Heero said softly. Neither of them moved.

Part Two

Duo smiled down into his webcam and waved happily at the none-too-amused tabby glaring at him from the screen.

"Milo! Man, look how fat you're getting!" Duo said as he waved at his pet cat happily. He saw the fluffy creature struggling to get away from Hilde, who had been holding him up and making him wave goodbye to him. Eventually the cat won the battle and vanished from view leaving Hilde alone in the frame spitting out cat hair.

"So? How are things?" Duo asked with a wide smile. Hilde shrugged and rubbed the side of her head.

"Okay, I guess. Kicked Nick out two days ago."

"Eh? Why? I thought you were head over heels for that guy," Duo asked, frowning.

"He just kept getting on my nerves. I don't know, maybe I need to stop picking up guys at Sweeper meetings. Sweepers tend to be kind of… I dunno…"

"Handsome? Intelligent? Resourceful? Awesome? Good at math?" Duo suggested jokingly, he himself still an active member of the Sweeper Group**.

"Crazy," Heero's voice said from over his shoulder. Duo blinked and glanced behind him to see that Heero had just stepped out of the shower and was standing in the middle of his room in nothing but a towel holding his toothbrush.

"Crazy is the right word for it. Hey, Heero!" Hilde said brightly. Duo saw her leaning into the camera in attempt to look past him. "Oooh, I see you two have been busy."

"Anyway, I've got to go so-" Duo attempted to divert and deflect but his attempt was thwarted by Heero's hand resting gently against his shoulder. Duo looked to his left and saw nothing but abs and a white towel-clad crotch. He frantically looked at the monitor and saw Hilde was pressed so close to the camera he could only see half of her face. Was she swooning? She was definitely swooning.***

"I'm going to go start getting hooked up for the ZERO transfer," Heero said slowly. Duo felt his partner's fingers grasp his chin. Before he could protest Heero had leaned down to kiss him. Duo was sure he heard a gasp from Hilde's side of the connection.

"Exhibitionist," Duo hissed as Heero pulled away. He saw a faint smirk cross his partner's face before he left the room. "Wait, my toothbrush!" Duo called after him.

"Wow… wow. Is that the same guy or did you clone him or something?^*" Hilde asked with a grin. Duo shook his head and sighed.

"Same guy."

"You've got the glow. Did you…"

"Damn it, Hilde!" Duo exclaimed. He couldn't believe he was having this conversation with his ex-girlfriend. He felt his face burst into flame.

"... how many times?" Hilde whispered.

"UGH!"

* * *

* GWO:What Friends Are For - Heero's alternative to being put into cryosleep with Relena was to make an A.I. to essentially pilot the Gundam in his stead (like a mobile doll, but with its own sentience) but Preventer and the Earth-Sphere Unified Nations denied the plan on the basis that Mobile Doll technology was illegal and unethical.

** Sweeper Group is a loosely organized group of people who collect, salvage and tinker. They tend to trade and barter among themselves. Howard is also a Sweeper.

*** As stated in part one, Hilde is more than likely a fujoshi.

^* Theory is that in Frozen Teardrop the Heero that is in the tube at the beginning is actually Alpha, his clone, with his memories downloaded into him. Beta (the Heero from the show) is somewhere living life or whatever? I don't know is this is true, but I have read this from a couple of fan sources. The idea was to make an excuse as to why Heero would all of a sudden be okay with killing Relena, especially after saying he'd never kill again in EW. (In FT he literally wakes up, they say "yo, you got a mission. Go kill Relena" and he was totally cool with it. Ahem. WTF?)


	5. Chapter 5

Part One

A high-pitched whining alarm blared loudly throughout the ship.

"Incoming mission. Snow White prepare to deploy through Zhànshì" Duo heard Howard's voice calling from over the intercom system.

"Shit, sorry Hilde. Gotta go," he said quickly before snapping his laptop shut and running out into the hall. He saw Wufei rushing towards him already dressed in his Ouroboros flight suit.

"What are you waiting for?" Wufei barked at him as he ran towards the aft side of the ship where the Zhànshì was docked to the Lennon. Duo fell in behind him and kept close on his heels. As they ran past the medical bay he hesitated as he saw through the clear observation window that Heero was already covered in wires. He was sitting on the edge of a steel examination table in a bright white jumpsuit covered in silvery metallic ports. Dr. J and Professor G were both applying probes to his face. He locked eyes with him as he passed.

"Oi! What about Heero?" Duo yelled up at Wufei who was now a good five strides ahead of him.

"Howard is coming to co-pilot Zàn with me, you're just going to have to go it alone." Wufei said as he darted through the hatch door and into the narrow passageway between their main ship and his cruiser. Duo followed obediently behind.

Once on board the Zàn Duo found a spare black ferroelectric Wing-One suit in a locker and changed into it as Wufei disengaged the cruiser from the larger ship and keyed in the coordinates to their destination. Duo had never deployed from the Zàn before, but he wasn't worried about it. After getting changed he hurried down to the hull of the ship were Snow White was crouched on one knee atop a launch plate. He saw Howard in an Ouroboros spacesuit working diligently at its feet, floating a few inches from the floor in the zero gravity.

"Hey, so what's the mission?" Duo asked as he approached the old man. Howard regarded him over his pointy sunglasses with a smirk.

"You're going to have your hands full today, kid. Intricate work. Earthside. The mission details are already loaded up and ready to go," Howard said enthusiastically as he gestured to the open cockpit above them. Duo nodded and kicked off of the floor to push himself up into the air and towards the cockpit. He slipped easily into the pilot's seat and felt the familiar tug of energy holding his back into place. He un-tethered his helmet from his headrest and slipped it on over his head. As he connected to Wing-One his suit began to pulse and constrict to establish his baseline vitals. He felt a sharp twinge of pain as the key around his neck was forced into the already bruised flesh in the center of his chest. He winced and tugged the helmet off.

"Shit. I forgot about this thing," he mumbled as he unzipped his suit and lifted the key up with his black-gloved fingers. He saw Howard float up beside the cockpit from the floor below.

"What's that you have there?" Howard asked as he drew near.

"It's just a necklace but it really fucked me up the last time I went out with it on," Duo explained. He set his helmet aside and carefully unclasped the clip at the back of his neck to let it float off of his chest. He watched as the tiny red key tilted and rolled weightless in front of his face. He hadn't taken it off in over a year, and he felt suddenly very naked without it.

"Ah, I see. Don't worry, I'll hold it for you." Howard offered as he reached out to take it in hand. Duo nodded and sighed.

"Yeah, okay. Take good care of that thing for me, will ya?" He watched as Howard smiled and tucked the necklace into a zippered pocket on the side of his spacesuit. Duo frowned and grabbed his helmet to once again force it over his head. His eyes were greeted by Wing-One's probing white light.

 **Cobra Commander, verified.** Wing-One greeted in its usual way.

Duo smiled brightly at the greeting. "Hey, baby, what's on the menu today?"

Data began streaming before his eyes through his immersion helmet. This mission was similar to one he had trained on before with *Aurora through Wing-One. It involved an armed conflict between two large warring factions on the African continent. The two sides had been posturing for some time, but the first blow had been thrown and it was time for Ouroboros to intervene. Unlike Preventer, whose primary goal was to prevent weapons from ever being developed, Ouroboros was designed to land in the center of any conflict and neutralize both sides until they surrendered. Wufei liked to use the word "Interventionists".

Duo skimmed through the report. It looked like both sides had a variety of antiquated land vehicles that they had modified into makeshift tanks. One side had attacked a small town, resulting in an unreported number of civilian casualties. Duo sighed and studied the satellite images of the smoking smudges that were all that remained of the ransacked town.

He wondered how many people had been caught in the crossfire and couldn't help but think about all of the people he may have killed in similar skirmishes. Though all of his targets during his time with Operation Meteor had been against military factions, he had never deluded himself to think that he hadn't taken innocent lives in the process. War was a dirty, heinous thing. He had lived with the guilt for a while right after Meteor, but had come to terms with his past and had wanted to make it right**. It had been his main motivating factor for joining up with Preventer in the first place.

However, despite accepting his past, it was still disturbing to see such a high level of destruction.

Especially on the planet, where everything was much more closely monitored than in the vastness of open space.

According to the report the ESUN had responded to the skirmish with their own police forces. That meant that they were using their own violent means to stop the two sides, or perhaps they had joined with the side they had considered to be the most "right" in the situation. Duo chewed at his lower lip and flipped through the images. It was difficult to see who was on what side, not that any of it mattered. His job was to stop aggression from all sides. That meant he was going to have to attack the ESUN, too.

He knew that this was bound to happen sooner or later. It was one of the reasons why Quatre wasn't willing to join as a full member of Ouroboros. He didn't want to directly retaliate against anyone, and though he willingly donated resources and research to their new organization the pacifist businessman didn't want to have his hand directly tarnished by intervening with what Duo assumed were business and political allies.

He wondered if the news about the previous day's intervention on L4 had made it to Earth yet. Would they know he was coming? Probably not. It would take a couple of interventions to set a pattern that people would finally identify. Maybe after this intervention someone would wake up and realize that there was an eye in the sky watching them and that if they behaved badly everyone was going to get their asses whipped.

He closed the Gundam's cockpit and felt the suction increase against his back through the ferro suit as the Gundam's systems began warming up.

 _"_ _ETA twenty three minutes,"_ Wufei's voice floated through his consciousness, interrupting his thoughts.

 _"_ _Gotcha,"_ Duo replied through his Wing-One connection to the Chinese pilot.

He closed his eyes to block out the plans Wing-One had put on display and let his body melt into his seat. The mobile suit hummed and vibrated all around him. Snow White sounded very different than how Deathscythe used to. This suit had an usual bass tone to it that shook him to the pit of his stomach.

Deathscythe's purr was more like the faint buzzing of of bees below your feet. This suit sounded like a demon having sex with a zombie in the basement. There was something unnatural about the sound, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Regardless of the different tone and all of the new fancy bells and whistles Snow White was still a Gundam, and at their heart all Gundams were the same.

This Gundam wasn't made for him. It definitely wasn't styled to his tastes. Everything about this suit reeked of Heero, even down to those ridiculous Nanomachine wings. He began wondering how someone who had been so murderous and vicious in his youth could have descended to the planet encompassed in something so angelic.

" _He's definitely no angel,"_ Wufei said across the connection. Duo blinked. He had forgotten that his stream of consciousness could be broadcast across their pair through Wing-One. Any focused thoughts or internal dialogue were susceptible for broadcast depending on the amount of focus applied to them.

 _"_ _Yeah none of us were. I used to think he was so cool,"_ Duo replied.

 _"_ _Used to?"_ Wufei practically scoffed.

 _"_ _Yeah used to. He's just some dweeb friend of mine, now. I used to think you were a real jerk back in the day, too. I mean, you're still a bit of a jerk…"_

 _"_ _Thanks for that, Maxwell."_ Wufei grumbled.

 _"_ _Don't be mad. Being a jerk is a good thing, you always managed to get shit done. Remember that time Heero accidentally killed a whole shit load of pacifists and you came and called us a bunch of morons?"_

 _"_ _... you were all absolutely ridiculous."_ Wufei said plainly. _"Frankly I am surprised that any of you made it through those wars alive."_

Duo chuckled. _"Yeah me too. I feel bad that you didn't want to work with us though. I mean, you were always going off alone. Weren't you excited to see other Gundam pilots?"_

 _"_ _I didn't need the distraction,"_ Wufei said coldly. _"I was on Earth to fight, not to make friends."_

Duo sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. He had gone to the planet to fight, too, but he couldn't imagine doing it without having met the others and collaborating with them. There had been many missions that they would have never accomplished if they hadn't worked together. Duo knew it was more than that for him, and he had an idea that at least Quatre felt the same way. It was nice to have a friend who could understand you and the cause you fought for. The battlefield was a lonely place, and knowing that you had someone to lean on when things got tough really helped Duo get through most it. He couldn't imagine how completely alone Wufei must have felt. Or, how alone he was even now that they were older.

 _"_ _Five minutes, Maxwell."_ Wufei's voice stabbed through the conversation in an attempt to kill it. Duo sighed and reached down to rest his gloved hands on the thrust controls. He opened his eyes and saw through the cruiser's cameras that the shiny blue marble of Earth was growing as they approached it.

 _"_ _You know you'll always be my friend, Fei."_ Duo let the thought hang loosely between them. He waited for Wufei to take the statement. After a long moment he did, and Duo felt it leave their collective as it was absorbed into the Chinese man.

 _"_ _You will always have a friend in me, too, Duo."_

 _"_ _Commander. Cobra Commander,"_ Duo corrected him.

Duo was pretty sure Wufei would have face-palmed if his helmet weren't in the way.

 _"_ _We're here,"_ Wufei announced. _"Good luck out there. Howard and I will provide you support from orbit."_

Duo blinked. He had forgotten about Howard.

 _"_ _Yeah. I'm here,"_ the older man's thoughts crept through the connection weakly. _"Be careful out there. This is going to be a tricky one. Remember you aren't going to have any big guns blazin' this time. This kind of fighting is gonna require a steady hand."_

Duo smiled confidently. _"Well you've got the right guy for the job, I've got the best hands in the business."_

 _"_ _Hurry, launch him before his head gets too big to fit through the chute…"_ Wufei said.

 _"_ _Cobra Commander, prepare for launch in T-minus sixty seconds,"_ Howard informed him.

Duo gripped the thrust controls hard and looked out through his fore mobile suit cameras to see the launch path illuminate green in front of him. The Gundam had been positioned at the aft end of Zàn, allowing for it to launch the entire length of the ship and out through the bow. Duo could see the sealed hatch at the end beginning to open and when he zoomed his camera he could see Earth's hazy atmosphere illuminated beyond it.

 _"_ _Duo, it is time to activate ZERO,"_ Wufei reminded him.

Duo grinned. He hadn't used ZERO in an actual battle in a long time. Now that Heero was laid up he was going to have to connect through the system directly by himself. The old system had used to intimidate him. When he first started working with it in simulation with Aurora he had still needed to use music to help his overactive brain focus and allow ZERO to form a solid interface with him. He had grown out of that need to a point, but he knew that having better focus would only benefit him for this mission.

 _"_ _Wing-One, hook us up with some tunes, will ya?"_ He requested happily. _"Battle mix."_

 **Playing 'Duo's Battle Mix'***.**

The catchy drum loop of "Derezzed" by Daft Punk ticked into his thoughts^*. He could hear Wufei's voice somewhere in the buzzing mixture beginning to protest.

 _"_ _Hey now, Aurora helped me make this list by measuring my performance compared to the bpm and use of sound,"_ Duo announced. _"You want me to do a good job, doncha?"_

There was no reply. Duo grinned and activated ZERO. He felt the battle system pressing into his brain with its ghostly fingers, searching for his desires and wants for the battle. He focused on the electronic crescendo from his playlist and allowed ZERO access to his mind.

 _"_ _Cobra Commander, intervening!"_ Duo said with enthusiasm. He forced the thrust forward on Snow White. It raced down the launch path on the sliding plate attached to its foot at breakneck speed and threw him out of the front of Zàn and into space on a collision course with Earth.

Part Two

Heero let his body relax against the cold stainless steel examination table Jay had laid him on in the medical bay. His ears were filled with the thick hum of electricity coursing from Lennon's compact fusion reactors into the tall rack of servers that had once occupied his apartment in Cinq, but were now property of Ouroboros. The servers and drives were the heart of his A.I. Aurora, the main player of the failed ARMISTICE plan that had been posed to Preventer over a year ago.

He heaved in a deep breath and tried to relax within the constrictive white jumpsuit suit they had insisted he wear. He had never used this technology before but as far as he knew it was similar to the ferro suits he and Duo used with Wing-One. This suit was woven with a similar conductive synthetic material, though it felt much lighter than the flight suit version. Jay and Professor G had spent the better part of an hour connecting various probes and wires to his body to facilitate the exchange of energy and information.

He wasn't nervous. He had been through similar procedures as a young child, though those had been done to wipe or reprogram memories rather than replace them.

The halo of bright white light over his face was blinding. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and let the tension loose from his fingers and toes that were covered in thick silicone class-B sealant to protect his digits from potential electrical burns from arcing electricity. Similar elastic goo had been smeared along his wrists, neck and any part of his exposed flesh that would come in contact with the metal table.

Heero felt Dr. J's cold metallic claw brush across his face. He opened his eyes and blinked them to force focus on the old man's grinning face.

"This is a lot of effort to go through for just daily status reports," the old man said quietly.

"You know it's more than that," Heero replied, his determination unwavering. Dr. J nodded his head and touched the side of his exposed neck with his chilled claw, his round lens eyes swiveling to focus on him.

"Of course. It is nice that you've finally found a friend."

"Boyfriend," Heero corrected mildly. Dr. J burst into a face-splitting laugh, causing Heero to smirk before closing his eyes again.

"Alright, let's get this over with." Professor G said hurriedly from the head of the table. Heero felt Dr. J retract his claw from his skin and heard the old man take a few shuffled steps back. "Clear!"

* * *

* "Princess Aurora" is the code name used for Heero in cryo in Frozen Teardrop. For the purposes of this fic I made the A.I. that was intended to replace him take on that moniker. Just another nod to the atrocity that is FT. (Though now that I have been poking at it so long it has started to grown on me…)

** Murder babies. (I don't know who on Tumblr started that, but it finally crept into my head.)

***Duo's Battle Playlist: ?list=PL5r6XXDRJzgVxvAEE5iR9ydSZWaBLJSZH on YouTube

^* Main theme for the movie TRON:Legacy. Guess what crossover fic I am planning to start after I finish this series?

^** I also want to point out that Gundam Wing was released in 1995, and the series takes place in a new timeline from the original Gundam Universal Century timeline. After Colony 195. 1995 ... 195. GW creators were super obsessed with details. Side note: Duo Maxwell was voted the most likable male anime character in 1995, which is just more proof that he is way cooler than Heero. ;)


	6. Chapter 6

Part One

Gundam Snow White descended through the atmosphere safely cloaked by its enormous angel wings like a bullet fired from heaven. It streaked across the sky and smashed a hole through a low, thick layer of grey clouds over the battlefield. There was no point in going in with stealth this time. Duo was hitting the ground running and wasted no time getting to the center of all of the action. He hoped that the detection of the Gundam on the battlefield would deter some of the players in the game from continuing to fight. The ESUN would know about the Gundam. They were the group that had held the strings of the peace puppet that was Preventer and therefore had inside knowledge about its construction and capabilities.

He was feeling confident. The first intervention with Snow White on L4 had been a piece of cake. This was a whole different animal, but it was a situation he had experienced many times before. It was difficult for Duo to get worked up when it came to battle. He had spent a good majority of his adolescence in the pilot's seat. Hardly anything could shake him up anymore.

When Snow White broke through the clouds Duo got a clear visual of the scene below him. It was chaos. It had been a long time since Duo had seen a battlefield like this on Earth.

Another town had been destroyed. ESUN Virgos were fighting with the *Uhuru People, a rebel organization fighting for freedom of oppression against the established government that went by the name of the **Kayiroo. The Uhuru People held the upper hand with the assistance of the ESUN mobile suits and air attack support. What remained of the former government and its supporters were backed into a corner and surrounded within one town in the jungle.

ZERO was showing him various avenues of assault. Duo could throw himself into the center of the major fighting just outside of the town. ZERO revealed that by doing so he would accomplish his goal much faster, and be able to take out a more dense area of assault. However, if he wanted to protect more civilians rather than neutralize the enemies he would have to protect the town and the villages that lie beyond it.

" _How many civilian casualties?"_ Duo asked as he tried to make a decision. His local area scanners revealed that there were very few enemies nearby but the suit's Search Eye with the enhancement of ZERO began to scan all possible unfriendlies in the area and was reporting that he had been detected and that ESUN Virgos were changing course towards him.

" _No reports as of yet,"_ Howard replied over Wing-One pair. Duo frowned. He knew that the main mission for Ouroboros was to stop conflict and not necessarily to protect human life. If anything, stopping the conflict would make it so that less human life would be sacrificed in future battles, but there was something nagging at him that he couldn't ignore. He was feeling the lead ball of dread rolling around in his stomach, and couldn't stop looking at the surrounded town.

" _I'm going to protect the town and attack from there,"_ Duo reported as he directed the Gundam to make a beeline for his target. Almost immediately he received beam cannon fire from overhead from the ESUN protection force ships in Earth's orbit. Due to the long range of their targeting the shots were scattered and unable to hone in on his position, making it easy to evade them. However the suits on the ground were beginning to swarm toward him like angry fire ants.

"Heh, for a group that boasts disarmament the ESUN sure does have a lot of assault mobile suits down here," Duo verbalized through his COM. He manually switched his general communications to broadcast over all available frequencies and spoke again. "Listen up! This is Ouroboros. You will stop fighting and drop your weapons now, or face the consequences."

Duo grinned and waited for the inevitable response to come. He wasn't sure who it would be, but he knew there would be one.

" _What do you guys think? Some overstuffed five-star general will call me back? Maybe Director Une? You know how she loves me…"_

"This is Lieutenant Shiro Yamada*** of the Mobile Suit Intervention Unit, Preventer." A confident, young male voice finally said in reply. "You are in possession of a stolen mobile suit. Turn yourself in now, or suffer the consequences…"

"Hey! That's my line… sheesh." Duo muttered. He frowned and saw a unit of Virgos approaching him with beam weapons drawn led by an upgraded Preventer Taurus suit he had once piloted alongside Heero.

Duo sucked his teeth and laughed. "Yeah, you might wanna fly the other way, I have shit to do and I don't have time to play games right now," he grumbled aloud as he forced Snow White towards the incoming throng of enemy suits. He unsheathed his beam saber and activated it's radiant sparkling blue beam and clipped his elemental beam cannon against his back securely between the suits wings.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You're nothing but a criminal yourself. How can you expect to gain any respect in the battlefield," the new Preventer pilot said incredulously.

Duo grinned and couldn't help but chuckle. "Me? Criminal… that's the understatement of the century."

He zig-zagged as the incoming ESUN Virgo units stopped their movement toward him and began a blinding volley of beam attack. He took a couple of direct hits, but the specialized properties of the gundanium of his suit merely deflected the weak strikes. It would take much more energy than a simple beam shot to take down his suit.

"You are wrong about one thing, though. This isn't just a mobile suit," Duo said playfully as he closed in on them, "it's a Gundam!"^

Snow White slammed into the Preventer Taurus unit with a flurry of rear shield feathers. He attempted to strike the Taurus's arm but was stopped by the other suit's beam crossing into his own. They were locked together for a few seconds straining to break the other loose.

"I know who you are," the Preventer pilot said darkly over the COM. "And I know what you're capable of, but just because you have are superior suit doesn't mean this battle has been decided!"

The Taurus launched itself backward and just barely avoided Duo's downward slice. His own suit was shaking violently from the continued strikes from the supporting Virgos. He shot towards a few of them to cut their arms off and disable them. The retreating Preventer Taurus was firing at him with its twin beam rifle. Duo snaked along the battlefield, avoiding the strike.

"You think you know what I'm capable of, huh?" Duo hissed as he kicked an incoming Virgo in the face to knock it over and chopped its limbs off before continuing his pursuit of the Taurus. "Let me tell ya something. If you really knew what I was really capable of, you wouldn't be dumb enough to get in my way…"

He put away his beam saber and pulled the enormous elemental beam cannon from his back and held it aloft with both hands. The dual ultra-compact reactor within Snow White activated to power then cannon whose tip began glistening a violet color, surging as it concentrated its electromagnetism.

"Consider yourself lucky that Shinigami is resting in Hell," he said hollow voice as he trained his targeting system on the evading Preventer Taurus.

ZERO found the Taurus and had just shifted to a blazing red crosshair to lock when Duo detected something rushing towards him on his right. He hesitated and then cursed loudly at his own hesitation as Snow White was struck by the second Preventer Taurus.

"Duo! Why are you fighting us!? Aren't we supposed to be on the same side?!" Noin's voice yelled harshly over the COM.

Duo growled as his charged beam within the cannon began to waver. If he didn't discharge it soon he would have wasted the energy and would have to wait five minutes to use it again. He scanned the battlefield and turned his suit to aim where the makeshift tanks and vehicles on the ground were facing off. He locked onto the center of the main cluster and shot. The purple beam blossomed into a translucent web as it burst across the sky and landed within the vehicles. The EMP arcs skittered across the battlefield with an eerie violet glow, taking out the electrical systems of the land vehicles within its sizeable blast radius.

Noin's Taurus smashed into him again. He dropped the overheated elemental beam cannon to the ground and elbowed her suit away from him to give his arms enough room to pull his beam saber forth. She responded with a slash of her own, followed by an expert parry at his following thrust attack.

"I don't want to have to fight you!" Noin pleaded with him as they dueled viciously across the battlefield.

"I'm not here to fight," Duo said angrily as he tried to disable her beam saber's arm but missed. "I'm here to stop the fighting. If you would just let me do my fucking job instead of interfering-"

Suddenly ZERO showed him an image from the southern end of the town. Movement from the ground, people gathering in front of a church at gunpoint.

 _What's this?_

" _Wufei, ZERO is showing me civilians at a church. What are you seeing?"_ Duo asked his companion through Wing-One.

" _One second,"_ Wufei's voice floated through his mind. _"Scanning…"_

Duo grunted as Noin's Taurus tried to grapple him. He was being shot from behind by the other Preventer Taurus suit's double beam rifle. The beams slammed into the center of Snow White's back and caused ZERO to flicker out of focus before showing him more of the image. At least three hundred people had been forced into a white wooden church within the town. He saw Uhuru People soldiers blockading the door. ZERO projected the image of flames erupting from the windows of the church.

 _Oh fuck. OH FUCK!_

"NOIN! Back the fuck offa me!" Duo screamed into the COM.

" _Remaining civilians have been forced into the town's church, sending coordinates,"_ Wufei said over Wing-One.

Duo's mind was racing. He knew why ZERO was showing him the people in the church. He had entered the battle with the goal of protecting the people, and it was facilitating that goal. ZERO was predicting that the Uhuru soldiers were going to kill the civilians. He was frantic, and for the first time in a very long time he began to feel apprehension at the controls. The image of the flames licking the white slatted church were hitting too close to home. His head began to ache and he felt his command over ZERO begin to falter.

Noin was still slashing at him, trying to hold him back from approaching the town while her companion was preparing to shoot him in the back again, charging his dual beam rifle.

"They're going to kill CIVILIANS! Move out of my fucking way, you idiots!" Duo was screaming frantically over the COM now. He received the coordinates for the church and with a single thought Wing-One had plotted its location. He saw Noin's Taurus hesitate at his words and seemed to back off but it was too little too late. A second blast erupted against the back of Snow White as the second Preventer pilot struck him again with the dual beam rifle blast, sending all of Duo's controls into a frenzy as his suit's servos became temporarily overloaded.

Approaching ESUN Virgos were assisting Preventer by striking Duo's suit with as many beam attacks as they could, only postponing his suit's automatic recovery.

"MOVE! FUCKING MOVE DAMN YOU!" Duo began yanking the thrust controls back and forth but there was no response. "Noin! Someone! Fucking stop them!"

His suit was quivering with the continuous stream of beam attack. ZERO was showing him the church as the soldiers began to set it on fire. The image darkened and seemed to warp at the edges as he lost his concentration on ZERO again. He felt a ripping sensation within his skull. It felt as if ZERO had snapped the strings holding his thoughts in place. Despite the music thrumming into his mind through Wing-One he couldn't focus. His brain started firing so quickly that ZERO couldn't make sense of his thoughts and he felt his sanity beginning to slip as it had years before during his first forced test with ZERO at the hands of the crazy OZ officer Trant Clark.

He couldn't feel his body any longer. The image of the church in the jungle melted away and was replaced by the collapsed facade of the Maxwell Church on L2, his childhood home. He saw the lifeless, glassy eyes of the dead orphans lying scattered and brutalized among the pews. He could see the limp body of Sister Helen lying contorted within a pile of rubble, her habit pulled away from her brown hair which had fallen loose from its bun. Her long hair was pooled behind her head, mixed with the thick and sticky puddle of old blood that had gathered around her skull to form a gory halo. Her eyes were half-lidded and her lips were parted just slightly in death. Her left leg was twisted around to face the wrong direction.

He could hear his own quivering exhalation fill his own ears, soon followed by the distant screams from his memories sweeping across his now cracking mind.

" _Wing-One, deactivate ZERO on Cobra!"_ Wufei's voice boomed through the vision.

 **ZERO system, Cobra Commander disabled.**

Everything began to retreat from Duo's eyes as if he were falling backwards into an oubliette of despair and helplessness. He felt ZERO's choke hold on his mind slip away and retreat. The weight of his vision had lifted, leaving him lying weakly against the pilot seat gasping for breath. He raised a shaking hand to his immersion visor and slid it away from his eyes, breaking his pair through Wing-One. Manual cockpit displays burst to life as he did, showing Noin's suit in close proximity to his own and the Virgos and second Taurus quickly closing in.

Abruptly all of his disjointed pieces snapped back into place. Gundam Snow White's systems reactivated and with them all of his senses. He slammed his gloved hands against the thrust controls and struck Noin's Taurus, knocking it out of the way. He pushed the Gundam to its in-atmosphere speed limit towards the location of the church.

Finally he came within visual range. Rather than be greeted by the church he saw nothing but a funeral pyre aflame.

He heard himself let out an unearthly scream. Within seconds he descended upon the gathered Uhuru People soldiers and made them sacrifices to the dark God Shinigami who now demanded a unholy, violent vengeance.

Nobody involved in the burning of the church would make it out alive.

Six hours later the Zhànshì docked with Lennon and its occupants disembarked. Duo had left the ship quickly and went directly to his room, foregoing the locker room entirely. He locked his door and curled up on his bed in his ferro suit. He close his eyes and immediately came face to face with his long lost inner demon.

Part Two

"I think it was a good idea you two came here. Cathy has a way with people. I think she'll straighten Duo out" Trowa said as he set his card down and waited for Heero to attack.

Heero looked over his hand of cards and regarded the table for a moment before playing. They were on their third game of Durak*^, and currently Heero had the upper hand.

"I hope so. He wouldn't come out of his room for two days. I had to break the lock," Heero replied flatly as he set a card down to attack Trowa.

"That's too bad. Best to keep him away from televisions and the news for a while. The story is everywhere, and of course they blamed most of the destruction in the town on the Gundam." Trowa played a card and sighed. "This isn't going to help the reputation of Ouroboros."

"I know," Heero murmured into his cards. He narrowed his eyes at them and frowned. "But I can't blame him for what happened. I would have done the same thing."

He saw Trowa nodding behind his cards. "Will you let him use ZERO again?"

"I don't know," Heero replied honestly.

They had only just arrived at The Circus^* the night before. It had been nearly a week since the incident with Duo and the church. Trowa had come to Lennon shortly after to drop off the latest gadgets and files from Quatre and on his way out he had offered for them to tag along while he visited his sister on the planet in Spain.

Normally Heero would have declined an offer like that. There was too much work left undone around Lennon, however after receiving the year's worth of audio logs Duo had made for him he had realized that the former Deathscythe pilot had done nothing but work on Ouroboros and their plan. He never missed a day of reports and he hadn't gone anywhere recreational in all of that time.

Being on Lennon in the middle of the solar system was isolating, and Heero knew that Duo needed social situations to truly thrive. He, Wufei and the old scientists couldn't possibly be enough. The idea of just letting Duo leave without him accompanied by Trowa had crossed his mind initially, but he couldn't bring himself to abandon his friend in his time of need.

He looked up from the upside down crate he and Trowa had been using as a card table and saw that the sun was making its final farewell to the horizon.

"So what is this thing Catherine wanted Duo to help her with?" Heero inquired casually as he played a card.

He could see Trowa's emerald eyes glint with a hint of a smile just over his hand. "The Circus travels to different towns every week or so. At the end of the production week Catherine throws a farewell party for the city they're in. She and a few of the acrobats do a couple of special numbers and acts and then they hire a local DJ to come in and throw a dance party."

As if on cue a trio of women dressed in stockings, bustles and corsets slinked past them en route to the big top. Heero's eyes widened and he cast a curious glance at Trowa who only chuckled and tossed his final cards down to win the game.

An hour later Heero was seated at the bar at the far end of the big top beside Trowa. The center ring had been covered with a wooden dance floor and a stage had been erected at the farthest end with a DJ booth perched in the center. Various cages and horizontal bars that the acrobats used for the daytime show were scattered throughout the air above the dance floor. Trowa had taken residence in the stool beside him and appeared relaxed with his legs crossed as he sipped a particularly pink cocktail. He had already collected three cocktails umbrellas, which were tucked neatly in the chest pocket of his shirt. Trowa was facing the stage and dance floor while Heero had kept his back to it while he focused on his third Whisky Sour.

He had reached the bottom of his glass and found himself staring at the maraschino cherry tucked beneath the layer of ice cubes. Duo would normally steal them from him. He fished it out with his finger and held it against his thumb for a moment before popping it into his mouth.

He hadn't seen his partner all day. He wasn't necessarily worried about him. He knew that Catherine would make sure he was well cared for and distracted, but it felt strange not having him around to bug him. As much as Duo could sometimes be excessively irritating, his presence was remarkably addictive.

The lights behind him dimmed and music began to play at a deafening volume as the acts started performing on the stage. The entire big top was crammed with people standing elbow to elbow, all dressed nearly as provocatively as the performers who delighted them.^**

Heero felt a little out of place dressed conservatively in comparison in simple black slacks and a fitted white oxford, but he wasn't there to impress anyone. He flagged the bartender to bring him another drink and upon receiving it took a long and satisfying swig. He pulled the cherry out of the top and set it on the napkin beside him before continuing to make his way to the bottom of the glass.

His thoughts began wandering to a variety of topics. He had read something in the news about the ESUN rewriting laws, and how they were once again considering the Mobile Doll Act and whether to amend it or not. Then his thoughts settled on the ARMISTICE system and what he was going to do with his A.I. Aurora now that he had downloaded all of the information from it to his own memories. The transfer of information had been surprisingly painful, but the sentiments behind Duo's reports had made every ounce of electroshock worth it.

His head felt light. He reached up to rub the center of his forehead with his palm and took another long sip of his drink.

He never used to drink. When he had first joined Preventer he had had his first beer at a company mixer. Duo had insisted. He hadn't liked it at first. He never much cared for the idea of forcing oneself into a stupor and willingly dulling the senses around strangers. He always considered it a dangerous and pointless practice. However, he had been trying to fit in with the others and drinking was what normal people did, so Heero had made a point of having at least one drink at every social function. After a while he had grown accustomed to the dull, loose feeling alcohol gave him. Now he looked forward to letting his body relax and finally understood its appeal.

He could count on one hand how many times he had gotten drunk. The last time he had he was with Duo and had confided in him that he was gay. It had been an awkward conversation for him to have despite the fact that he had shared sexual experiences with the American. He supposed it wasn't important in the long run. It hadn't changed anything between them, but he wanted to tell someone. He needed that affirmation from someone other than Relena, and Duo was the only other person he felt he could speak freely to. The admission hadn't been planned but he had been grateful for the few drinks he had beforehand.

The music behind them shifted from upbeat and high energy to a dragging, slow beat. The lights in the tent dimmed so much that Heero could barely see his glass on the bar. Trowa's sharp elbow jabbed him in ribs to get his attention. He turned around slowly and followed the former Heavyarms pilot's gaze to the stage where a single spotlight had illuminated a figure in black. Heero peered across the tent and saw that it was Catherine. Instead of her usual pastel acrobat costume she was clad in sheer corsetry. Long grey feathers provided a theatrical collar and served to frame her serious expression. Her hair had been tucked into a lopsided top hat and she was standing perched on the tallest thigh-high boots Heero had ever seen. She had a bullwhip wound around her body. Her presence was striking. She stood in the center of the stage for a minute while the audience cheered her presence.

The air began to fill with the buzzing sound of the bass beat to "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons. She was strutting around the stage to the song with enthusiastic, purposeful steps. Heero glanced at Trowa, who was watching his sister's sultry performance with a faint smile.

CRACK!

She had swung the whip over her head and snapped it back through the air over the crowd. As she did a second light illuminated the stage and revealed a thin, lithe male figure bonded in leather. A young man with red hair was kneeling on the stage in front of her at the opposite end of the darkened stage. He was wearing only small black shorts and the rest of his flesh had been marked with hand prints and smudges of black paint. Half of his face was shaded red. He was holding a small wine glass in his hand. He held it over his head. Catherine smiled widely and the audience began cheering as they realized her challenge. She took a wide stance on the opposite end of the stage and began coiling the bull whip in her hand. The music paused at a rise in the beat and through the silence the whip cracked the air again and the glass shattered in the man's hands.

The crowd was beside itself with anticipation, clearly wanting more. She continued snapping objects in the redhead's hands to the music. Finally the lights dimmed and when they illuminated again he saw another figure standing in the spot where the first man had been kneeling.

Heero's breath hitched in his throat as he recognized that the figure was Duo. He saw Trowa shifting on his stool out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't look away to address him. His partner was clad according to the theme in tight leather pants and sleek industrial-style knee high boots. That was it. The leather pants were hugging his narrow hips so low that it was nearly indecent. The overhead light was tinted red and its ruddy glow complimented the sharp lines of Duo's abdomen and chest. Heero had noticed that his partner had gotten more muscular in the year that they had been apart. He had thoroughly enjoyed those muscles the last time they had slept together, but on stage his lover appeared to be a different person. He is face was painted with edgy black eye makeup. A red inverted triangle was painted down the center of his face, tapering down to his pointed chin. Even from across the tent Heero could see Duo's violet eyes practically glowing under the red light. His long braid had been pulled apart to create a high, braided mass that resembled a fauxhawk. Long tresses had been liberated from the mass to hang loosely against his bare back. His neck and chest were littered with thick coils of metal and costume jewelry. He lifted his forearms. They were wrapped in thick, black leather buckled gauntlets. Heero watched him bend his elbows and press his wrists together so that the palms of his hands were parallel with his eyes.

Heero looked over at Trowa who was watching him with a smirk, clearly amused. It was obvious he had been in on this plan the entire time. Heero glared at him before looking back at the stage as Catherine started experimentally cracking the whip in preparation for her next trick.

Heero didn't know what to think. He was in awe and he couldn't stop staring at Duo, who was waiting at the opposite end of the stage in his submissive pose with a devious grin on his face. The audience was swelling with excitement now. Catherine spun and danced around for a moment before turning to face Duo. With a sweeping arc of her arm she sent the bull whip flying. It reached across the stage and snatched Duo's leather covered wrists. She yanked at him hard to pull him to his knees.

"HOLY SHIT, THAT GUY IS SO FUCKING HOT!" The woman to Heero's right was screaming over the music to her friend who was nodding in agreement. He glanced at them before letting his eyes settle again on Duo's kneeling figure while Catherine postured and danced around him.

He had to agree with them. He watched her wrap the rest of the bull whip around Duo's neck to pull him to a stand before dragging him off of the stage with her.

The audience went wild. Heero watched as they chanted for more. Another act came on to replace it with a similar theme. The lights in the audience remained low as the music picked up a different rhythm. Heero turned to face Trowa who was chuckling behind a glowing blue cocktail. He now had six umbrellas spilling out of his shirt pocket.

He knew his friend was looking for a reaction.

Heero was just about to tell Trowa how he felt about him hiding shit from him when he saw his green eyes glance over his shoulder. Before he could turn around to follow his gaze he was hugged from behind. Luckily his reflexes were considerably dulled from the alcohol. His reaction time had lapsed a few seconds, delaying his fist from flying into his attacker's face. It was just long enough for him to feel a hot breath against his cheek and hear Duo's voice whisper against his ear.

"Hey, lover… buy me a drink?"

Duo could have asked him to drop a battleship on the Earth in that voice and he would have done it.

He flagged down the bartender and ordered him a Flaming Dr. Pepper, knowing it was his party drink of choice. He felt Duo squeeze him as he did as if to thank him.

"You did really well up there," Trowa said loudly over the music. "Normally people flinch. You didn't."

Duo had rested his chin on Heero's shoulder. He could feel him nod his head and saw his smile through his peripheral vision. He raised a hand to rest on one of his partner's now bare forearms.

"Yeah, well, I am used to taking hits," the American said with a laugh, obviously referring to the times that Heero and Trowa had sucker punched him for various reasons. Trowa chuckled and when the bartender returned with Duo's combination drink he gestured to it.

"Yeah, go ahead." Duo said with a nod. He kept the arm under Heero's hand pressed against his chest and freed the other to reach out in preparation to take the drink. The drink consisted of a tall pub glass filled with a pale ale, accompanied by a shot made of amaretto topped with a high-proof liquor to make it flammable. The bartender set a lighter to it. It came to life with blue flame. Trowa carefully lifted the glowing shot and dropped it into the beer. The shot glass plunged to the bottom of the glass, mixing the liquor into the beer and dousing the flame. Trowa quickly handed it to Duo's outstretched hand. The American brought the drink to his lips and chugged nearly all of its contents before laughing and slamming it onto the bar. Heero had never tried one before, but his partner insisted it tasted just like the soft drink Dr. Pepper.^^

The act on stage had ended. The lights in the tent began to brighten and flooded everyone standing beneath them with a shimmering golden light. Heero glanced at the stage and saw that a DJ had taken her place in the booth and was spooling up the music for the dancing portion of the night. Performers from the show had begun mingling with the crowd and the dark energy from the show had begun to charge into that of happiness for a show well done.

Duo had reached out to the bar to grab the cherry Heero had left on a napkin. He saw his partner turn it over in his fingers before pressing it into his mouth.

The music burst across the room with a sudden jolt, bringing with it a wave of excitement. Duo was caught up in the wave. Heero heard him gasp and was suddenly released from the American's arms. Duo slid in front of him and grabbed his shoulders gently. Heero finally saw him up close in his costume and found himself breathless again. He stared mutely at him while Duo grinned happily, obviously recognizing the song that had started to play.

"I'm gonna dance, you wanna come?"

Heero looked at the massive crowd jumping and waving their arms happily to the song. He shook his head.

"Aw, okay. I'll be back." Before Heero could respond Duo had leaned in to kiss him. His lover's tongue forced its way into his mouth and passed something through his lips. Duo abruptly broke away from him and made his way to the dance floor. Heero saw the women who had been sitting beside him at the bar tailing him as he went.

He bit down on the sweet object in his mouth and realized Duo had passed his cherry back to him. He chewed it thoughtfully as he watched his partner begin to entrance everyone in the crowd with his infectious smile.

"24K Magic" by Bruno Mars invigorated the crowd. It was clear that Duo knew the dance to the song and immediately began doing matching gestures and poses with a group of girls in the center of the dance floor. It didn't take long for his partner to become the center of attention. Women and men alike were joining in with him. Heero watched as his Duo writhed and swayed effortlessly to the music, his long hair swinging like a metronome to the beat. He never touched anyone. Instead his hands hoverd over anyone that tried to engage him. He saw other people stealing caresses of the American's body as they moved and ground up against him.

Heero grabbed his own drink and sipped it slowly, stifling a smile with the edge of the glass. He couldn't bring himself to feel jealous of anyone who tried to get Duo's attention. He couldn't blame anyone for trying; Duo's body was irresistibly magnetic. Just as the thought passed his mind he saw his partner gesturing to both him and Trowa at the bar.

"Why you mad, fix ya face. Ain't my fault y'all be jocking, keep up!" he mouthed the words of the song with a smile before tossing his head back to laugh as he rocked and swayed with a cluster of scantily clad girls.

"I told you Catherine would straighten him out," Trowa said plainly as he tried to force another umbrella into his now overflowing shirt pocket.

Heero nodded. She definitely had.

* * *

 **Notes:**

* Swahili - "Uhuru" - Freedom  
** Mandinka - "Kayiroo" - Peace  
*** Shiro Yamada is the main character and pilot in GUNDAM 08th MS TEAM  
^ I did the Toonami thing!  
\- Durak is a popular card game in Russia.  
^* Seriously, it is just called "The Circus".  
^** Catherine's show and costumes are inspired by a show here in LA at the Palace Theater called "The Lucent Dossier Experience"  
^^ The only drink I have ever blacked out on. They are delicious, though.(Mixing liquor with beer? No bueno.)


	7. Chapter 7

Duo had no idea what time it was, and he didn't give a single fuck. He felt a hand graze his side as a knockout blond circled around him from behind and took the place of the tall, dark man he had been dancing with only seconds before. He didn't care who he was dancing with at this point as long as he could keep going.

It had been a rough week. His last mission had been both a spectacular success and an abysmal failure. He had managed to subdue the ground forces to the point that they finally had surrendered. He had neutralized a large percentage of the ESUN support Virgos and had escaped capture by the Preventer MSIU Taurus suits, but not before murdering at least thirty-five people in cold blood.

The old darkness that he had compartmentalized during the Eve War had begun slowly oozing its way from the cracks ZERO had made in that once steeled and impenetrable box. Eventually the dismal tar had stained every part of him black. His once happily reverberating heartstrings had been coated with sticky negativity, preventing any positive energy from strumming forth.

He had dealt with it the only way he knew how. He shut down and repressed it. He couldn't bring himself to move, and had spent the better part of two days fighting to force his inner demon back from the surface and into its sealed cave. He was that twisted abomination that had gleefully agreed to be Deathscythe's pilot in the first place.

Heero dragging him out of his bed, showering him and bullying him to eat had made him feel somewhat human again.

They hadn't talked about what happened. It didn't need to be discussed. What Duo had needed was someone to handle the necessary basic functions of his body while he grappled with the creature within. Heero had automatically taken control and managed that part for him.

Duo hadn't even known that they were coming here. All he knew was that Heero needed him to go to Earth with him for something. He had obediently loaded onto Trowas shuttle and a day later he had been whipped, choked and then thrown onto a dance floor to mend himself.

He opened his eyes and saw that Catherine had taken the place of the blond woman who had been dancing with him. She was still in her performance costume and was grinning up at him with her hands pressed into his exposed chest. She fell into beat and matched the movement of his hips with her own.

"Your guy better tighten his leash on you before I steal you," she said with a teasing smile. Duo chuckled and grinned as she turned around to lean her body against him as they swayed together. "He doesn't dance?" She asked as she cast a curious glance over at her brother and Heero having a conversation at the bar. Duo shrugged.

"He doesn't need to," he said softly into her ear.

She spun around and wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned up at him. "You two really are so different. How did you end up with someone like that?"

"Like what?" Duo asked curiously. He saw another woman standing behind Cathy waiting for her turn to dance with him, but Trowa's sister wasn't willing to give him up just yet.

"I mean your personalities. You are so fun and outgoing, and Heero … isn't."

"Heero's fun." Duo protested. "Just because he doesn't dance doesn't mean he's not fun."

Catherine was laughing. He felt her fingers grasp the loose locks of his hair behind his neck and pull them forward over his shoulders. "Only fun people dance, Duo."

"I could get him to dance if I wanted to," Duo replied confidently as he watched her fingers begin braiding a small piece of his hair as they grinded together. She shook her head and gave him a daring look. "You don't think I can?"

"No, I don't." Catherine's voice dripped with challenge. Duo's smile widened with wickedness.

"What's at stake here?" He asked her as he guided her towards bar and away from the disappointed dancers who had been waiting their turn.

"I'll give you a surprise if you win, but if you lose you have to help me with my next late night show. He has to dance to one entire song," Catherine replied as she followed his lead to the bar. Duo nodded as he submitted to the terms of their agreement and approached his unsuspecting lover who was hunched over the bar focused on something. As he drew closer he saw that Heero and Trowa had spread cherries, sword-shaped skewers, olives and coasters between them. Trowa was moving an olive onto a square coaster and Heero was pointing at it and shaking his head.

"What the hell are you two doing?" He asked as he regarded their arrangement curiously. "Wait a minute… is this … you two are working out battle plans?"

Trowa chuckled but Heero's face was its usual level of intense seriousness.

"Yes," his adorably stern partner replied. Duo could see Catherine standing nearby trying to hide her laughter behind a gloved hand. Duo rolled his eyes and forced himself between the two knuckleheads at the bar and snaked his arms around Heero's neck. He saw the former Wing pilot's eyes widen a fraction as he did.

Duo knew that this was going to be too easy. He wondered what sort of methods Cathy had expected him to use to manipulate his partner into dancing with him. Had she expected him to give him a lapdance and then trick him onto the dance floor while he was in a lusty, drunken stupor? Maybe she was waiting for him to grab him by the cock and drag him out there unwillingly?

Duo smiled and ran his fingers through Heero's hair gently, slicking his dark messy bangs back away from his deep, cobalt blue eyes to make better eye contact with him. Heero looked up in response and Duo paused for a moment to capture a mental picture of how completely fucking gorgeous his boyfriend looked in the darkness, drunk and dressed like he was on his way to sell Total Pacifism door to door.

Heero stared up at him questioningly.

"I want you to dance with me," Duo said firmly. He could see Cathy observing them from beside the dance floor.

Heero nodded, finished the final finger of his drink stood up. Duo grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor as he heard the song that had been playing coming to a close.

A house remix of "Ride" by Twenty One Pilots shifted the energy of the writhing audience from a high energy jumping beat to a slower, chill vibe. Duo stopped within a densely packed concentration of grinding dancers and pulled Heero gently towards himself and positioned his lover's hands to rest on his own naked shoulders before dropping his hips into his partner's to the beat.

Heero obediently countered his movements with active participation. Duo couldn't help but smile at him. He unbuttoned his partner's white shirt until it was halfway undone as they danced to make Heero look more the part of the casual boyfriend he actually was.

Heero Yuy had never denied him anything when it came to personal wants and desires. As much of a hardass Heero appeared to be on the surface in private he was always eager to please him. Earlier he had asked him if he had wanted to dance and Heero had said no. Duo wanted him to have a choice. He knew that Heero would have gone with him if he had demanded it or had expressed that he wanted him to come, but at the time it wasn't necessary.

Heero was drunk. Duo had no idea how many drinks the guy had tossed back but he could tell. Heero's eyes weren't as sharp and piercing. He wasn't trying to scan the room or assess the situation. He appeared delightfully numb.

Duo grinned and wondered how far he should push his luck. Only recently had they officially started dating. In the past when they were just fuck buddies Duo had playfully tried to grope him in public and had to duck a punch as a result.

He felt like a kid taunting a sleeping cobra with a stick. He carefully wrapped one arm around Heero's back and let his hand rest firmly against the indentation over his ass. The other hand slid up his exposed chest and raced around to his partner's neck to dig his fingers into the silky chocolate hair at the nape.

Their faces were close. Duo could almost taste the alcohol on his boyfriend's breath. It was obvious that Heero was nearly wasted but his body appeared to move independent of his inebriated brain. His eyes appeared to have trouble focusing and his thin lips were parted, complementing the loose expression on his face.

Heero being so relaxed was a relatively new development. Back when they first joined Preventer the Japanese man hardly ever drank, and if he had he would sit with his back in a corner glaring at everyone until the inebriation subsided. The fact he was standing in a thick mass of writhing people completely fucked in the head was something he had never seen him do. Duo felt Heero's hands roaming across his bare chest as they danced, grasping and exploring the new muscles he had worked to build during the year he was frozen.

 _I'm a bad influence I guess_ , Duo thought with amusement as he arched his back to roll the muscles of his abdomen against Heero's. He saw the Japanese pilot's cheeks flush and then redden as he did. The expression he made was similar to the one his lover would make when he climaxed. Duo blinked and did another experimental roll of his body into Heero's to the rhythm of the music and realized that he could lure that expression to the surface every time he did.

 _Jesus Christ…_

That face on his normally stoic lover was one of the hottest things Duo had ever seen in his life. He normally would do anything he could to see it, and now all it took was a well planned curl of his body to stir it up. He wasn't sure that he was going to last the whole song at this rate. He grit his teeth and tore his eyes from his partner's face. He had to busy himself with something else otherwise he was going to throw the sexy motherfucker over his shoulder and drag him out to their room to bask within the erotic glow of that rare face.

He leaned in to bury his face against the side of Heero's neck. He pressed his lips against his cool skin and felt his pulse throbbing hard against his lips. He breathed in his partner's metallic scent and felt himself counting down the final measures of the song.

"What's the bet?"

"Huh?" Duo pulled away and stared into Heero's face. His partner was eyeing him with surprising clarity. Duo sighed. Apparently Heero hadn't been as far gone as he had originally thought.

"She thought I couldn't get you out here to dance with me," Duo explained with a smile.

Heero frowned and narrowed his eyes. "Hn."

"It was just a friendly bet," Duo added quickly. He could see Heero's eyes dart across the dance floor to lock onto Catherine who was standing on the sidelines beside Trowa watching them with a catlike grin.

"What do you win?"

"She didn't say."

Heero looked back at him with an expression fueled with determination.

The music began to transition to a quicker tempo remix of of "Nuclear" by Zomboy and with it went the transition of power to Heero who had taken the lead and was forcing Duo into a quicker beat by rocking against his body. Everyone around them was smiling and jumping with their hands in the air as the bass dropped and the music accelerated to an almost undanceable speed. Duo was pleasantly surprised to see that Heero seemed to be getting into it his new 'mission' of showing Catherine Bloom that she was dead wrong about him.

"You're moving too slow," Heero grumbled into his ear as he forced his hips with his hands to sway faster with the beat.

"Shit. My bad, bro…" Duo said with a laugh as he let his partner dictate their movements. He could see some of the men and women he had been dancing with earlier in the night watching them from the crowd with envious smiles as his enigmatic, stony-faced boyfriend drove him to the center of the dance floor.

By the end of the song Duo was exhausted. Heero's form of dancing required the body to become a direct conduit for the music. His partner had been very technical about the entire thing and had required him to move precisely to tempo, as opposed to his own style which was more interpretive. It had been a workout and by the time the song had ended Duo was covered with sweat. His long hair was sticking to the sides of his neck and had tangled around his upper arms from the movement.

"I gotta sit down," Duo panted as he grabbed Heero's shoulders and nudged him back towards the bar.

Catherine was gawking at them as they approached. Duo dropped hard into the stool Heero had claimed as his own at the bar only fifteen minutes before and weakly waved down the bartender to hook him up with a shot to try and numb the aching in his sides.

Heero approached Catherine and held his hand out. Trowa started laughing so hard that his eyes began to water as his sister grinned and reached into her bra to retrieve two small plastic baggies and set them on Heero's hand. Heero set Duo's reward on the bar beside him before taking up the standing room beside his seat. His partner leaned his back against the bar and crossed his arms over his chest and looked out over the dance floor

The bartender slid Duo a nameless house shot. He tossed it back and cringed at its bitterness before studying the baggies. Each one had and small strip of translucent pink paper cut into a perfect one inch square. Embedded in the center of each strip was a tiny shard of diamond.

"What is this?" Duo asked as Catherine padded up to stand on his other side.

"A one way ticket to heaven," Catherine said with a sly smile. Duo blinked and looked over at Trowa who was lounging on the stool opposite of Heero. The former Heavyarms pilot nodded his head and smirked.

"Wait… like acid or something?" Duo asked as he studied the papers. He was no stranger to drugs. Drug dealers were as common as ice cream men in L2.

"Sort of. It's a new synthetic," Catherine explained as she pushed the slips closer him. "Save them for when you go home and need a break from reality."

Duo nodded and plucked the bags from the table and reached over to shove them into the nearest of Heero's pockets.

"You ready to go back out?" Heero asked casually over his shoulder, to which Duo gave an exhausted groan and buried his face into the bar.


	8. Chapter 8

"You look tired, have you been getting enough sleep?" Hilde was leaning hard into the webcam and eyeing him suspiciously. Duo smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I've been sleeping fine," he said reassuringly. He glanced over at Heero's prone figure sprawled naked under his covers just out of the camera's view. So maybe that wasn't entirely true. It had been nearly a week since they had left The Circus in Spain and his partner had been attached to his hip ever since.

He knew that Heero was worried about him and didn't trust him to be alone. Every night since they got back his partner had crept into his room and climbed quietly into the bed with him. Whether they remained quiet and sleeping for the entire night was another matter.

He felt his face burning with embarrassment at the memory of the previous night's rowdy sexcapades and cleared his throat loudly.

"So, how are things?" Duo asked as he straightened the crooked neck of his favorite black sweater that Hilde had made for him for his birthday two years before. It was one of the few personal items he had brought with him to the Lennon, and despite its poor construction it was one of the softest and warmest things he owned.

"Pretty good," Hilde said happily as she batted a fluffy tail from the intruding Milo out of her face. "Been looking into expanding some of my storage space, the fourth lot is completely full now. I think I am going to put a bid on the old James place across the street."

"You need any money?" Duo inquired. He saw Hilde shake her head and heard her scoff with irritation.

"I told you before, I can't take any more money from you-"

"Yeah, but you're storing the Cobra for me, and I don't have any expenses here, Hilde. You know if you need anything I will get it for you."

"I know, I know. You've done enough for me," Hilde said with a warm expression. "Just focus on taking care of yourself, okay?"

Duo sighed and gave her a reluctant nod. "I will," he promised her, and he meant it.

After the Eve War the Gundam pilots were all given a stipend from the ESUN for their efforts. It hadn't been much, but it was just enough for Duo to buy a scrap yard on L2 with an adjoining townhouse. He had settled in there with Hilde for a while after the war. Eventually their relationship had dissolved and Hilde had found someone else. Duo had decided to leave for Preventer and instead of selling it all he just left it to Hilde. She had insisted that she pay him back but Duo had only taken her payments and put them into a special account that he eventually forced her to take back a year later.

Duo considered the scrapyard purchase money well spent, and had no problem giving it all over to her. She had given him more in her companionship and comfort during the end of Operation Meteor than he could ever pay back. Even though it didn't work out for them romantically, he still considered Hilde a soulmate. She was irreplaceable to him.

He watched her with a smile as she began outlining her plans for the acquisition of new storage lot for the scrap yard. Her eyes were filled with excitement as she spoke with her usual enthusiastic hand gestures.

Duo loved Hilde. It had come so naturally for him that he he hadn't questioned the decision to move in with her back then. They got along fantastically, hardly ever fought, and had similar ideas and interests. Duo had always been sexually attracted to her. Hilde was fit and casually beautiful in a way that very few women he had ever encountered could pull off. She wasn't terribly feminine or stereotypical either, which made her feel more like a rival in bed and less like a prize. He had really thought that she was the one. When things changed and she started seeing someone else it hadn't bothered him as much as he thought it would. Sure, it bummed him out, but he didn't feel the betrayal or hurt he thought was supposed to come with those things. He wanted her to be happy, and when she approached him and told him she wasn't he couldn't do anything else but step aside and let her go find herself.

It hadn't worked, and she had fallen into a continuous cycle of boyfriend shopping ever since. It made him sad to see her so unsettled, but he knew there wasn't anything he could do aside from be there for her and provide support when she fell from cloud nine time and time again.

He let his eyes wander to rest on Heero's body sleeping on his bed and wondered if his partner felt the same way about Relena Peacecraft.

"So what do you think?" Hilde's voice interrupted his thoughts and snapped him back into the conversation.

"I think it's great! If you need a co-signer or something, I can get you a hookup. Ya know… I can't do it myself but I have some Sweeper friends out in L2 with some stellar credit."

She laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, thanks a lot, trying to get a hook up for me with your scrappy criminal friends…"

Duo grinned and lifted the stretched collar of his sweater up to cover his mouth and shifted his eyes like a caricature of a villain. "Criminals? Me? All of my friends are of the highest moral standing!"

Hilde was chuckling at his antics, her cheeks pink from smiling. "So what have you been up to? Super secret robot work?"

Duo nodded and waggle an eyebrow playfully. "If I told you I'd have to have Heero kill ya," he teased.

Hilde shook her head and was rubbing her happy cheeks with her hands. "You're too much, Duo Maxwell," she said between giggles.

"Too much? I always thought I was kinda on the average side…" he joked as he looked down at his own crotch suggestively. Hilde burst into giggle fits again and he saw her swat her hand at the tabletop and knew that if she were there with him she would have playfully smacked him in the head.

"More like below average," she retorted. Duo's jaw dropped and he feigned a hurt expression.

"Aw, hey… low blow, man. Seriously? This chode may be a little small, but he gets the job done. Never heard you complainin' about his handiwork before…"

Hilde was grinning. "You're right, he may be small but he's mighty," she added with a snicker, causing Duo to laugh loudly at the joke. "Don't hurt Heero too badly with it."

Duo nodded and chuckled. "Okay, I'll try not to."

They chatted about other topics including the sales taxes on L2, Milo catching mice and leaving them on Hilde's chest while she was sleeping and plans for when they would get together in a month or two.

"Well, I've got to go pick up a shipment," Hilde said as their conversation came to a close. Duo nodded and leaned into his camera to wave at her and Milo who was staring at him from the corner of the monitor. "Love ya, Duo. Please be careful out there."

"Love you too, Hilde. I'll be fine, stop being a worry wort will ya?"

The connection broke and Duo found himself staring at the blank screen for a minute before tearing himself away to start getting dressed. He tugged his sweater and his undershirt off and toed off his socks and sweatpants before slipping into his navy blue Ouroboros jumpsuit and boots. He padded into the bathroom to brush his teeth and saw himself in the mirror.

He looked tired but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed with a few good night's sleep. He started brushing his teeth and avoided looking in the mirror as he did. He didn't want to see the grey circles under his eyes or the frown lines that had been burrowing into his face lately.

He suddenly felt another presence and looked quickly to his left to see Heero leaning naked in the bathroom doorway.

"I'm going to make some adjustments to ZERO today," Heero said in his smooth, low voice as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm going to try to install ARMISTICE* on Snow White."

Duo rinsed and spit before echoing, "ARMISTICE? What would you need that for?"

"According to Aurora's logs you performed well through the A.I. and ZERO. The two systems together may have the same effect as my mind does over you when you are bonded with me through Wing-One. My theory is that Aurora will be able to regulate and help you focus when I'm absent to prevent…" Heero actually hesitated, which was something Duo had never seen him do in conversation. He felt his own face burst into a supernova of embarrassment as he knew full well that Heero was referring to him going apeshit in Africa.

"That shit was just a fluke okay? It's not going to happen again," Duo protested weakly, though he knew he couldn't say that for sure. He saw Heero's eyes were analyzing his face and turned away, feeling ashamed. They still hadn't discussed what had happened and this was the first time either one of them had brought it up.

"It's just going to be a failsafe, Duo. For everyone, not just for you."

"I just… yeah I know. Okay." Duo stole a glance at Heero and saw that his partner was still watching him closely with his usual intense, dark gaze.

"I'm gonna go check the workshop for my key, maybe Howard dropped it in between the lathe and the press…" Duo said softly as he changed the subject and tried to slip past Heero. The Japanese man had grasped his wrist as he slid by to stop him.

"It's gone. It's okay that it's gone, Duo. Remember, you were supposed to throw it into the water."

Duo frowned. "It's gotta be on this ship. It couldn't have just vanished. Howard said he felt it in his pocket when he was working in there after my launch. I just wanna check one more time, okay?"

Duo had given the key Heero had gifted him before his cryostasis to Howard before his last mission, and at some point the old man had lost it. Duo had spent the last four days actively scouring every inch of the ship looking for it.

Heero wordlessly released his wrist to let him pass. Duo took a few steps and paused. He spun quickly and jumped on Heero to grapple him into a tight, playful hug. He heard his partner grunt as their bodies slammed together but then felt the former Wing pilot's hands press gently against his back.

"Don't think that looking for your key is going to get you out of greasing your suit's joints today," Heero said flatly as Duo released him and made a speedy retreat out of the room.

"Huh? What's that? Seriously, Heero, ya gotta stop mumbling so much," Duo said loudly over his shoulder before breaking into a jog toward the docking hangar.

* * *

* ARMISTICE: the battle operating system Heero and Dr. J developed that fuses Wing-One and Zero, enhanced with Heero's A.I. Aurora. Originally it was developed as an alternative to Heero going into cryostasis himself. The idea was to put ARMISTICE into Snow White and allow the A.I. (with the control of a secondary pilot paired through Wing-One) to use the suit for Preventer missions. Preventer and the ESUN had denied the project, claiming it was too much like mobile doll technology, which is currently illegal in the Earth-Sphere. That denial was what made Heero break off from Preventer, steal Relena and the Gundam and join Ouroboros.


	9. Chapter 9

Duo had searched every square inch of the hangar workshop and hadn't found a thing. He was getting frustrated. He stopped crawling between two massive wet sander tanks to cradle his face with his crossed arms and groaned. He felt the hum of the artificial gravity pulling against his chest from beneath the floor. It had been a week since the entire ship was finally outfitted with artificial gravity, including the workshops and the docking hangar. Despite the familiar tug at his mass, it never felt the same as it did on Earth.

He hadn't taken his key off ever since Heero had given it to him, and the one time that he had it had gotten lost.

Duo knew that he shouldn't be as obsessed about the key as he was, but it was one of the few material things he cared about. For the majority of Duo's childhood he had very little to call his own. He had survived for the longest time by scrounging around in the streets and stealing whatever he could as far as food and clothing. Nobody had ever given him anything as a gift until he was forced into the care of Father Maxwell and Sister Helen through the Maxwell Church orphan charity program. It had been either that or juvenile detention for him.

He had been placed through the L2 Colony Child Protection Service in more foster homes than he could remember, but his final status as runaway had been the last strike for foster care. He was on a one-way track to juvenile lockup. He had been lucky that Father Maxwell happened to be present during his last arrest and had negotiated his release. The CPD and L2CPS had agreed to give Father Maxwell temporary custody of him on a trial basis. If he broke the law again he was going to be put away for good.

Duo sighed into his arms. As he closed his eyes he saw the kindly face of the old Catholic priest illuminate his mind and he felt his chest tighten at his memory. The old man had only cared for him for a short time, but he had been more of a father to him than anyone had ever been. He was the only one who seemed to give a shit about Duo. He haf been the only one that understood that deep under his unruly wild street kid exterior there was a fragile little boy who needed someone to simply care. Someone to tell him he was wanted.

Father Maxwell had given him a Roman collar* to match his own when Duo had asked about his. Sister Helen had been against Duo wearing it. She had said he was just a boy and that he hadn't earned it, but Father Maxwell had insisted on the grounds that it would be an identifying mark to show the CPD that Duo was part of the church program and that hopefully if he did get into trouble whoever caught him would be more understanding. At that reasoning Sister Helen had allowed it, but Duo knew that Father Maxwell had done it for no other reason other than that it made him feel special. None of the other orphans had one, and he made no apologies for Duo having something special over everyone else. The old man knew that he had needed it. When he wore it as a child he felt obligated to behave and act in a way that wouldn't shame The Church or the Father.

He had worn that same collar after the Maxwell Church massacre and throughout his time with Operation Meteor. Once his mission was over he had gone back to L2 and buried that collar and the memories with it at the memorial where the Maxwell Church had once stood.

The only thing Duo had kept consistently throughout his life was his hair. It had always been long. Originally it was unruly because he had no way to cut it while living on the streets, but eventually he started to keep it long by choice. It was Sister Helen who had taught him how to braid it and properly care for it at Father Maxwell's insistence.**

His hair was his burden and held the weight of everything that made him who he was. It was his identity and his comfort blanket. He could never bring himself to cut it.

He had been given so little in his life. The collar was gone. Deathscythe, given to him by Professor G, was long gone. The key Heero had given him the year before had been one of the few things that meant anything to him. Of all the items he had brought to the Lennon, the key was the most important and he couldn't even keep track of it.

He opened his eyes at the sound of footsteps passing nearby. He lifted his head and saw a pair of Ouroboros uniform boots stop a few yards away. He couldn't see who they belonged to.

The boots stopped moving and whoever wore them was standing beside a pile of crates along the far wall. Just as Duo had decided to stand up and greet the newcomer another pair of boots padded past him.

"I need a spare Wing-One helmet. Is there one here?" Heero's flat, businesslike voice broke the silence.

"I'm not sure. I have an extra on my ship," Wufei offered in reply. "What do you need one for?"

Duo could hear Heero sigh. "I'm installing ARMISTICE on Snow White."

Wufei had scoffed. "What for? I bet I can guess. You want to make it so Maxwell can't go on a murdering spree again."

Heero didn't reply. Duo grit his teeth and tried not to bite off Wufei's ankles. He kept his breathing even and attempted to keep as silent as possible.

"You know, I don't understand why you don't just pilot that damn thing," the Chinese man said sourly. "What is there to gain by risking another mission like that? Why go through all of this effort?"

"Duo is a better pilot than I am," Heero said in a quiet, confident voice. He heard Wufei snort through his nose in response.

"Being a good pilot requires being in control on the battlefield, not just being able to pull a few Gs."

Duo squeezed his eyes closed and buried his face into his arms in an attempt to keep himself calm. He wanted to jump up and punch Wufei in his cocky face, but deep down he knew there was a seed of truth to his words. He had lost control, and he would always be burdened with the shame of it.

"I'm no longer able to perform the duties of a soldier," Heero replied monotonously. A strange, awkward silence hung in the air at the tail end of his words.

"The Gundam has passive defensive weapons. You don't need to kill to be its pilot, Yuy."

"Gundams are weapons, despite the various methods that they employ. They are made for the purposes of annihilation. It's their primary function, whether we use the most deadly of its weaponry or not. I can't be in control of something with that kind of power anymore. It… it goes against who I am now." Heero's voice sounded strange and brittle and lacked his usual self-assurance.

Wufei was silent. Duo heard Heero's footsteps growing distant as he exited the workshop from the far side. He could hear Wufei exhale loudly before he stalked out through the opposite doorway Heero had gone.

Duo waited for a few minutes to make sure he was alone in the workshop before he crawled out of the shadows and stood. His face was on fire and his mind was racing. Ever since the mission in Africa he had felt off balance. Every little thing seemed to get to him. He could barely focus on his assigned tasks. He found himself wandering around aimlessly in the halls. He was forgetting to eat, to shower, to re-braid his hair. He felt broken, as if a cog within him was chipped and the machinery of his mind was clunking haphazardly along trying to keep up with the zooming progress of life carrying on around him.

He felt like shit. Wufei had no confidence in him, that much was clear. He couldn't blame Wufei; he was thinking with a level head. However, it didn't make it hurt any less.

"Better get to work," he muttered sullenly as he straightened the front of his jumpsuit. He gathered a pair of grease guns and work gloves from a nearby table and made his way out to the main hangar. Howard greeted him at the foot of the Gundam.

"Duo, I'm so sorry about your necklace. I've been lookin' for it all morning. I know I'll find it, it's gotta be somewhere around here. I never unzipped my pocket, I don't know how it came out."

Duo forced his most radiant and reassuring smile. "Naw, don't worry about it, Howard. It's no big deal, seriously. I'm sure it has gotta be around here somewhere."

Howard didn't seem comforted by Duo's reassurance. He shifted his weight back and forth from one foot to the other for a long moment before looking up at the Gundam.

"You doing your weekly maintenance today, then?" Howard finally said in an attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah, gonna take all day with this thing. She's more high maintenance than my Shelby Cobra. Who decided to put so many complicated joints and connections on this thing, anyway? The damn wings alone are gonna take most of the afternoon," Duo said with mock annoyance before giving the older man a small wave and continuing on towards Snow White, which was crouched down in the middle of the hangar on one knee. The cockpit was open and unoccupied and a couple of the knee and ankle panels had been opened, their intricate inner workings exposed.

He reached into his pocket and retrieved his wireless earbuds and jammed them into his ears. He flicked on some music from his phone and shoved it into his pocket.

"You've seen The Butcher" by Deftones began blaring through his thoughts. The chugging bass and peaking of instrumentals began drowning out his negativity and served as a magnet to gather together the shards of his shattered consciousness.

He felt a little calmer with the music soothing him, despite the dark themes the song implied. He shoved his hands into his gloves and climbed up into the Gundam's massive ankle joint and began getting to the tedious task of lubricating every place metal rubbed against metal with a thick, clear silicone lubricant.

It was messy work. After an hour he had finished all of the points of contact on the right leg. He climbed down from the right knee and took out his earbuds. He wiped his sweaty bangs from his eyes with the back of a lubricant coated arm and looked up from the floor to the cockpit. It was still hanging open but this time he could see someone seated in the center of a vast array of wires and monitors.

Duo saw Heero sitting amidst the technological chaos, typing vigilantly at the laptop perched on the console in front of him. Dr. J was standing on a lower level of extended catwalk nearby arguing with Professor G over a piece of paper J had clutched tightly within his clawed hand.

"Clearly this is the correct formula," G was grumbling loudly as he tried to snatch the paper from J's hand. J was cackling maniacally and continued to hold the page just out of reach from the other scientist's grasp.

"I'm pretty sure Dr. J is at least a hundred years old," a voice spoke from behind him and nearly made him drop the grease gun he was holding. Duo looked over his shoulder and saw Wufei had taken a casual posture beside him. The Chinese man was looking up at the two quarreling geniuses on the catwalk with a smirk.

Duo didn't know what to say. He was still angry about Wufei's harsh words, even though they had not been intended for him to hear.

Just as he was formulating a joke in response the entire hangar began to fill with a low, rumbling hum. Duo jumped at the sound and dropped the grease gun. It clattered loudly to the floor as the glowing green light of Snow White's Search Eye flashed with a bright golden light, activating and scanning its surroundings.

He looked up to see that the Gundam's eyes were illuminated, meaning that its main flight systems had activated.

"What the hell," Duo heard Wufei mutter from beside him, clearly just as confused as he was. The floor began to tremble as the Gundam's wings started to shift position from their default tucked position against its back.

The two scientists had stopped their bickering and we're standing frozen on the catwalk, staring in shock at the suit as it appeared to be powering up to prepare for flight.

"What the fuck is he doing?!" Duo exclaimed. He scrambled back a few paces as Snow White raised its enormous white angel longest feathered pieces crunched into the rafters above them.

"Heero!?" Duo yelled up at the open cockpit. He could see his partner seated within the cockpit, his face covered by the black Wing-One immersion helmet. He wasn't moving and there was no reply.

The air filled with a sound Duo could only describe as a swarm of insects. High-pitched metallic jingling mingled with the roar of the suit's warming thrusters as they spooled in preparation for launch.

The unfurled wings began to glimmer as the nanomachines lining the feathered panels activated and began to shift around against the seams. The tremulous bass of the suit's power supplies began to agitate the air. The vibrations were so intense that they began knocking small items from nearby tables.

Something was definitely wrong, that much Duo knew for sure. He tore off his work gloves and began racing for the catwalk. The two old scientists were tripping over one another to get down the stairs as he bounded up them three at a time. He made it to the platform level with the suit's chest and sprinted toward the cockpit just as an ear splitting screech filled the air. He tripped as he was startled from the sudden disorienting sound. He caught himself with the railing before he could fall. The sound made his vision double for a few seconds before his brain could adjust to the massive amount of auditory input.

He looked up just in time to see a glimmering cloud beginning to form just above the cockpit as the nanomachines from Snow White began to gather densely together. He staggered forward as fast as he could despite the roaring noise and the violent sway of the catwalk.

"Heero!" His scream was drowned out by the roaring hive-like whir of the nanomachines. Just as Duo got within ten feet of the cockpit the dense cloud above funneled at the bottom. The shimmering cloud formed a long, glistening tornado that touched down into the cockpit below.

Duo's shock turned to pure, crippling horror as the sparkling tendril swallowed Heero.

"NO! No!" He scrambled forward but felt a strong hand clamp onto his arm to try and hold him back. Wufei had followed him onto the catwalk and had grabbed onto him.

"Duo, stop!" Wufei barked loudly over the din, attempting to keep him from getting any closer.

Duo saw the faint outline of Heero's body within the sparkling swarm arch against the pilot's seat. The former Wing pilot's arms were reaching out to grab frantically at something to pull away from the assault. He felt the blinding visor of panic shield his eyes. The deafening low frequency hum from the nanomachines and the Gundam had overwhelmed his senses and dulled his thoughts. He could only think of one thing: getting to Heero. He had no other plan.

He strained against Wufei's cemented grip upon his arm and reflexively swung his fist. He landed a hard punch against the Chinese man's nose. As his balled fist cracked into his friend's face Wufei released him and stumbled backwards just long enough for Duo to break free and vault for the cockpit.

He could see the outline of Heero's body smothered by the attacking nanomachines, trying desperately to free itself from the cockpit. Duo didn't know what to do. His body felt heavy and unresponsive. He threw himself down into the cockpit in an act of pure desperation and landed hard against his partner's body. As he came into contact with Heero the shimmering aura of nanomachines lifted off of him and dissipated like thistledown caught in a breeze.

Heero's body was limp against the pilot seat. Duo fumbled with his partner's helmet and yanked it hastily away from his head. The former Wing pilot's eyes were closed and his head hung limply, his chin pressed against his chest. Duo grabbed the sides of his face and leaned in to inspect him.

"Heero? Heero, please… please wake up," he heard his own voice pleading with his unconscious friend. Within moments the Japanese man's head snapped up and his eyes opened to lock with his.

The expression on his face took Duo's breath away. It was a hard, distrustful, borderline angry look. His dark blue eyes were filled with an intensity Duo hadn't seen in years.

His partner's hand shot up to cover his face with an out turned palm.

"Did… you see?" He heard Heero mumble.

"See what?" Duo stared down at him in shock, and before he could do or say anything more Heero had leaned back and nailed him in the center of his chest with a powerful kick. He hadn't seen it coming and the blow had sent him flying backward over the side of the console and out of the cockpit. He fell for a few seconds, the ship's artificial gravity grasping and tugging him backwards, before landing hard against his back on the hangar floor below.

His vision began to tunnel and the last thing he saw before blacking out was Wufei and Heero facing off and exchanging punches on the catwalk above him.

* * *

* "The clerical, or Roman, collar is a sign or mark of a person's holy calling, according to the Church of England. It is an identifying badge that can be recognised by people of all faiths. Worn by both Anglican and Roman Catholic priests around the world, the narrow, stiff, upright white collar fastens at the back." - Google.

** Episode 0 Manga, Sister Helen tries to cut his hair but Father Maxwell tells her to let him keep it.


	10. Bonus

Bonus

50cc Dream Sequence

(I'm lookin' at you, 'Duo's 1st Confession'!)

(Hopefully this will hold you over until the real chapter. ;) )

" _This'll catch him for sure," Duo whispered with a devious grin as he rubbed the entire length of his braid with the marking chalk he had found in Heero's toolbox._

 _His Wing Gundam pilot companion had been stealing touches of his braid for a few weeks and Duo had decided that it was time to catch him in the act. He finished applying the light, nearly translucent layer of grey chalk to the entire length of his coiled hair before getting back to work making minor repairs to Deathscythe. He let his braid carelessly drape out and over the nearest Gundanium panel as if it had settled there on its own._

 _Eventually the other pilot had walked by and Duo felt a faint tug against it as the other pilot's hand secretly slipped over it. He feigned ignorance to the intrusion and continued making his repairs._

 _If anyone else had touched his hair he would have pummeled the shit out of them, however there was something about the laconic and mysterious Wing pilot that had made him more permissive about the encroachment of his personal space. He wanted to see where this would lead, and what the guy was going to say when he caught him red handed._

 _An hour later Heero had come back and was standing on the panel above him trying to get his attention._

 _"I need to borrow a socket wrench," the Japanese youth said loudly. Duo pretended not hear him and instead began clanging against the inside of the panel he was working on as loud as he could to drown the other pilot's voice out._

 _"Hey! Do you-" CLANG! "Socket-" KABONG! "Hm." CLUNK!_

 _BANG! BONK! CLANK!_

 _Duo's slamming and clanging was interrupted by a pebble landing against his shoulder. Startled, he looked up to see Heero holding a handful of pebbles, peering down at him from a perch atop Deathscythe's leg. His face was covered with grey smudges from the marking chalk._

 _"Hey! What's the big idea?" Duo exclaimed. He picked up the rock that had hit him on the shoulder and launched it at Heero's head. The other pilot had ducked out of the way just as the rock whizzed past his face._

 _"Socket wrench," the other pilot said tersely, his dark blue eyes narrowing on him as he waited expectantly for an answer._

 _"Sure, I'll give you one," the Deathscythe pilot said with a catlike grin. He leaned back against the inner workings of his Gundam and smiled brightly up at the other pilot's dirty face. "You just gotta answer one question."_

 _"...fine."_

 _"Why've you been touchin' my hair, huh?" Duo taunted loudly. He saw the other pilot's face harden at the accusation._

 _"What are you blabbering on about?" Heero growled._

 _"Don't play dumb, guy. I'm not as stupid or oblivious as you think I am. You've been feeling up my hair for a while now, so what gives?" Duo said with a chuckle. "There is no use denying it."_

 _"You're delusional," the Wing pilot grumbled. Duo saw him attempt to make a quick retreat as his face vanished from view. He wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. He climbed out of his suit quickly to pursue him. The Japanese boy had already made it across the dark woodland clearing that they had made their temporary hiding spot and was standing beside his own suit. Wing Gundam was lying flat on its back, parallel to Deathscythe and hidden safely beneath camouflage netting and the thick, green summer canopy of the forest._

 _"Why can't you just admit that you want to touch it?" Duo teased as he followed him. Heero spun around to launch another pebble at him but he twisted his torso just before it could make contact. He laughed and dodged yet another rock that had been aimed at his head as the now clearly embarrassed Heero Yuy attempted to escape the topic._

 _"Don't flatter yourself," the Japanese boy said flatly as he climbed into the cockpit of his own mobile suit. Duo followed him up to Wing Gundam's chest and peered over the side of the cockpit at him. Heero had launched his final pebble as his face had come into view. It smacked him right between the eyes._

 _"Ow! Shit!" Duo flinched. He cradled his forehead with his hand for a moment before scowling down at the other boy who was now sitting with his arms crossed tightly over his chest in the pilot seat, glaring daggers up at him. "What the hell!? You coulda taken my eye out!"_

 _"Get off of my suit," Heero growled in a low, threatening voice. Duo knew he was getting to him. He knew he should leave him alone, but he just couldn't help himself. Heero had fucked him over and dropped some pretty vicious comments on him ever since he had saved him from the military hospital almost four months before. He had stolen his mobile suit's parts, and used him and his resources to his advantage. He wanted to get him back. He wanted to make him feel stupid for once._

 _"Next time you wanna be a sneaky pervert and touch on me, you better ask permission first," Duo said with a snarl. "And you can stop lying about it. I caught you in the act. The proof is all over your face."_

 _He saw Heero reach up to touch his own cheek and then inspect his dusty grey fingertips. Duo grabbed the end of his own hair and twirled it hard, sending a grey puff of dust into the air as he did._

 _He saw Heero's normally narrowed eyes widen to the size of dinner plates._

 _"Yeah, that's right. Who's the idiot now?" Duo didn't give the other pilot a chance to reply. He hopped quickly off of Wing Gundam and marched proudly over to his own suit and grabbed his socket wrench. After he hauled himself up onto Deathscythe's chest he began to aim at Wing. He licked his finger and raised it to check the wind playfully before winding his arm up and chucking the wrench across the clearing. It landed loudly into the dark hole of Wing's cockpit. He heard the other pilot's voice curse faintly from inside._

 _Duo smirked and sighed happily. As much of a weirdo as the other Gundam pilot was, he was still glad to have the company._


	11. Chapter 11

(AN: Sorry for the chapter mix up earlier, and thanks for to the folks who smacked me in the back of the head to let me know I goofed! Rode too many rides at Disneyland yesterday, scrambled my noggin.)

Part One

Chang Wufei followed Howard through the Lennon's maze of hallways toward the medical bay. Duo was lying limp in his arms, unconscious from his fall from Snow White's cockpit. As he looked down at the broken pilot resting against his chest blood from the punch to the nose that he received from Maxwell dripped down to land against the other pilot's uniformed chest.

Duo had managed to knock his head back pretty hard when he had punched him in the nose. Wufei had never gone toe to toe with Duo before, but he knew he was capable of holding his own. Anyone who could handle Yuy as long as the American had would have to be formidable. He just hadn't expected him to turn on him like he had. The blow to the face had stunned Wufei, and he had found himself frozen in place with shock as Heero Yuy kicked his partner out of the cockpit. Duo had vanished over the side of the catwalk and Wufei had no chance to evaluate the situation before Heero came running across the catwalk to attack him.

He had caught Heero's foot as it flew at him in a sweeping roundhouse kick. He had attempted to twist it to throw the former Wing pilot off balance, but his attacker had managed to regain his footing and continued to lunge at him with a flurry of kicks and fisted blows.

Wufei had been trained from a very young age in Wushu*. He had even bested Meilan, his betrothed wife, when she was considered to be the fiercest warrior on A0206 in L5 at the time**. Despite his advanced training holding Heero at bay had proven more of a challenge than he would have liked to admit.

The Japanese man was fierce and well trained in a variety of fighting styles. From what Wufei could gather most of Heero's attacks were raw military style hand-to-hand combat***, which meant it was best to keep him at a distance. The thing that had made fighting against Heero unique was that he didn't tire at a normal rate. The amount of power and energy behind the combination attacks he had performed would have exhausted a normal attacker. It would be within that window of fatigue that Wufei would have planned to strike.

He had danced down the staircase backwards as Heero had tossed relentless attacks at him. Wufei managed to avoid his strikes and parry those that came within range just long enough to make it to the hangar floor. As he had backed away from the catwalk Heero tried to run past him, evidently realizing that he couldn't subdue the Chinese pilot. Wufei wasn't going to allow his escape. He had grabbed a large wrench that had fallen off of a bench nearby and beaned him in the center of the back with it. Heero had fallen flat on his face from the projectile strike.

Professor G and Dr. J had tied the unconscious Heero up and had carted him away, leaving him with Howard to collect Duo and assess his damages.

Wufei sniffed the leaking blood back up into his nose and looked down at Duo again as he carried him. The former Deathscythe pilot's head was tilted against his shoulder and though he appeared to be knocked out his expression appeared pained.

He was no problem to carry. To Wufei's surprise the American was much more lithe and slender than he seemed. He knew for a fact that Duo had been sickly and extremely underweight a year ago while living on X-18999. He had assisted Duo in his transformation over the past twelve months and had assumed that all of the bulk that the other pilot had put on in that time would have made him weigh more than he actually did. Wufei considered Duo his closest friend. Despite that fact he had never been this close to Duo before. He had never stopped to consider the differences between their physiology. The American was petite, much smaller than the average male was. He felt hollow, as if his bones were that of a bird.

Wufei knew that size mattered very little when it came to the heart of combat. One thing that his time studying Wushu had taught him was that one should never judge others by their appearances, and that sometimes the smallest warriors possessed the most concentrated willpower.

"Just lay him down over there. We'll have the ship's automated surgeon assess him," Howard said as they stepped through the threshold to the ship's medical bay. Wufei nodded and carefully set the former Deathscythe pilot onto the nearest stainless steel table. Howard had rushed to the head of the table to boot up the computer. Wufei pulled his arms carefully out from beneath Duo's flaccid torso and began gently arranging his arms and legs. As he did Wufei saw the other pilot's eyebrows gathering together as his face tightened in pain. He reached a hand over to touch his forehead and felt that his skin was cold and slightly clammy.

He didn't say anything. There was no reason to. He couldn't bring himself to utter false words of comfort to his friend, because he didn't know the truth of his condition.

Duo had landed on his back against a plait of cables approximately three inches thick. Wufei had overheard Professor G whispering something to Dr. J as they left the hangar. Something about spinal damage. The old man seemed concerned, which was strange for him, because he never seemed to care one way for the other about Maxwell or his well being.

Wufei stepped away from the table and watched as Howard activated the ship's automated triage program. A long arm with yellow glowing probes slid forth from a hatch over Duo's unconscious form and began silently scanning him from head to toe. Howard was watching the process through a monitor at the head of the table. His expression wasn't reassuring.

"I'm dying, right?"

Wufei jumped at the sound of Duo's voice from the table. He looked down to see Maxwell's wide, reflective eyes staring up at him. Wufei immediately noticed that the normally white sclera of his right eye was blood red. The corner of his mouth was turned up into a smile, but the rest of his face betrayed the forced expression. He was clearly in pain.

"Not yet," Wufei replied plainly.

"What happened to your face?" Duo asked weakly, his smile remained firmly cemented to his face.

"You did," he said.

"Oh, damn. I do good work." Duo tried to chuckle but then winced and turned away to stare up at the probing robotic arm as it dropped down to scan his eyes. "Sorry… about that," Duo added in a hoarse voice.

"It's fine." Wufei replied.

"Is Heero okay?" Duo's voice wavered slightly as he spoke the former Wing pilot's name. Wufei felt the muscles in his own arms and legs tense in response.

"You don't need to worry about him right now," Wufei grumbled, feeling annoyed that the other pilot was even showing concern for someone who had hurt him.

"Fei, are my feet moving?"

"What?" Wufei blinked and leaned in closer. Duo was avoiding looking at him. He had turned his head away and was staring at some secret object across the medical bay.

"My feet. They're moving, right?"

Wufei turned to look to the far end of the table where Duo's immobile feet were lying against the tabletop.

"No… " Wufei answered him honestly. The American frowned and closed his eyes tightly.

"Shit." Duo whispered. Wufei felt the tension in his arms and legs double. He felt a heaviness gathering in the center of his chest that he hadn't felt since the Eve War. He needed to let the tension out before it began to eat away at him. He turned and quietly evacuated the medical bay and stalked quietly back to the docking hangar. He found Dr. J and Professor G standing in a storage room beside Heero. The former Wing pilot had been tied with extra cables and straps to a chair. Dr. J was standing over Heero's bound figure while Professor G was working diligently at a computer console, his eyes narrowed and his expression confused.

Heero looked up and glared at him as he entered the room. The expression only fueled Wufei's festering rage. Within seconds he was in the Japanese man's face. He had grabbed the front of his Ouroboros uniform and had lifted him and the chair he was bound to off of the ground. Heero didn't even blink at him.

"How dare you…" Wufei snarled into the other pilot's face. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

Heero's icy, flat expression didn't change. He didn't reply.

"Don't you even care? I thought you two were close. He doesn't deserve this. You don't deserve him," he hissed as he lifted Heero and the chair a couple more inches. Heero's eyes narrowed in response but there was still no reply. His silence only triggered Wufei further and with an angry heave he tossed the other pilot across the room, chair and all. The tied Japanese man slammed hard into the floor onto his side.

Dr. J was blathering on beside him in protest, but he couldn't seem to make out his words through the irate storm occluding his thoughts.

"Hey you! Perpetually angry Chinese guy, he can't remember a thing. He doesn't know who the hell you are. He doesn't even know who Duo is." Professor G yelled gruffly from behind him. Wufei turned to look at him as his words seeped through the angry fog in his head and landed on his brain.

"What did you say?"

"I said he doesn't remember a thing. He doesn't know me, or you, or anyone from Operation Meteor. He seems to only remember Jay."

Wufei huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "That doesn't make any sense. How?"

"The nanomachines. He had just installed ARMISTICE into Snow White and his A.I. Aurora directed the machines to attack him. I still don't know why. It was an accident," Dr. J was explaining as he tried to pull Heero and his chair upright. Wufei sighed and reluctantly helped him. He grabbed the back of the chair and pulled it roughly to an upright position. Heero was staring up at him with the coldest expression Wufei had ever seen.

"You're lucky I'm bound right now," Heero said darkly. Wufei rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"So he lost everything? Are you trying to tell me… wait a minute," he leaned down into Heero's face and locked eyes with him. "What year is it?"

Heero didn't reply. Wufei frowned.

"It's AC 200." He informed him. He watched as Heero blinked and looked to Dr. J as if for confirmation. The old doctor nodded slowly to verify the fact, leaving the former Wing pilot looking thoroughly perplexed.

"What do you remember?" Dr. J asked gently.

Heero's face was unreadable. "I had just descended to the planet Earth for the beginning of my mission. I encountered an OZ squad in the atmosphere and engaged them. They immobilized my suit. I evacuated, and had managed to make it to shore. There was a girl. She… saw my face…" Wufei watched as Heero struggled to recollect his memories. It was painfully obvious that he didn't have much to draw from. "The year is After Colony 195."

"He's lost five years," Wufei said slowly as he shook his head. "Why? Why five? Why didn't it just kill him?"

"I don't know," Professor G said, his voice clearly perplexed.

Wufei sighed heavily and reached up to rub the knot of tension that had formed in the center of his forehead. "Can you fix this?"

"We will see," Dr. J said softly as he focused his robotic lens eyes on Heero.

Part Two

It had taken six days for the swelling from his spinal injuries to decrease enough for the scientists to surgically install a neuroprosthetic brain-spine interface*^ into Duo's body. At first he was opposed to the crazy scientists meddling with his insides, but eventually he had given his permission. He didn't have any other choice. It was either let them try it, or spend the rest of his life without the use of his legs.

The surgery had taken nearly twelve hours to perform. When he woke he was sick, weak and still couldn't feel or move his legs. After three hours he could feel Dr. J's cold claw against his toes. After six hours he could move those toes, and by the following day he could walk with assistance. It had been three days after the successful surgery and he was able to walk around without any assistive devices. He wasn't one hundred percent but he was alive and walking. He knew he had a lot to be grateful for.

Quatre and Trowa had arrived on the Lennon right after his surgery to replace their previous team in the event that new missions came up. They had gone out on the Zàn at least once that Duo was aware of to stage an intervention on a colony without the use of Snow White, which was out of commission until they could undo the work Heero had done on the operating system.

Duo stared out of the Lennon's observation window from his seat on a white, plush chair nearby. He gathered his legs to cross under him and began rolling the tip of his braid between his forefinger and thumb as he thought.

He wasn't allowed to go down to the docking hangar, or to enter any of the labs attached to it. Not having anything to do was killing him. He had seen everyone except Heero periodically throughout his recovery time. Wufei was around more than anyone, but he hardly said anything.

Despite the visitors, he felt alone. Alone in all of it.

Trowa had broken the news to him that Heero didn't know who he was. That he didn't know who any of them were. According to the old doctors Aurora had attacked him for some unknown reason. Nobody was telling him what was going on, what they were doing about it, or if it was even possible that Heero could get his memories back. He felt like he was spending every day groping around blindly, begging the others for answers that nobody was willing to give.

It bothered him that Heero didn't know him. It bothered him that he had kicked him, and that now he was going to have to live with the result of that attack for the rest of his life. He didn't blame him for it, he knew that he didn't mean it. Except… he had. At least the old Heero had. He knew he shouldn't be surprised. He had been one of the first people to encounter the unhinged Wing pilot on the planet, but it had been five years since that day, and he had forgotten just how ruthless and violent Heero Yuy had used to be.

"Duo, there you are. I've been looking all over for you," Quatre's kind voice spoke up from behind him. He saw the blond pad up to his side from the corner of his vision.

"Hey, yeah sorry, I just needed to get out of my room for a little, ya know?" Duo explained as he stared out at the dark masses of asteroids floating beyond the Lennon's observation pane.

"You don't have to explain," Quatre said gently as he placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed him reassuringly. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, sure." he lied. He turned to smile at him before patting the tops of his knees with his palms. "Can't be too upset about having working legs, right? Not that this means you can drag me to any more of those marathon runs of yours…"

Quatre's light, ringing laugh made Duo feel a little better.

"They're not that bad, you just have to train for them. I bet you'd be really good at it if you just practiced," the former Sandrock pilot said with a bright smile. Duo shook his head and groaned.

"No way. You guys are nuts. Who gives themselves blisters and sprained ankles for fun?" Duo said sourly. Quatre laughed again, and with his laugh some more weight that had been settling on Duo's shoulders lifted. "So what are you guys up to? Any new missions?"

Quatre shook his head and slipped into the chair beside him. His light blue eyes were cast thoughtfully out over the asteroid field surrounding the ship.

"No, thank goodness. It was difficult working without a mobile suit to get into the thick of it. Howard and Trowa are having trouble uninstalling ARMISTICE from the Gundam. He doesn't know why. Now they're thinking about removing the entire computer system and replacing it entirely. That kind of a job could take over a week," the blonde explained candidly.

"Jeez." Duo muttered. He began rolling his braid through his fingers again, this time feeling anxious. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, not really. It's probably best that you-"

"Stay away from the hangar. Yeah-yeah, I know…" Duo interrupted sullenly. Quatre frowned and watched him for a long moment.

"I know this has to be hard."

"Nothing is hard. I'm fine. Seriously," Duo replied, avoiding eye contact as much as he could. He knew Quatre wouldn't believe him. The other young man had a strange way of knowing just what you were feeling or thinking^^, sometimes before you even realized your own emotions.

"He still doesn't remember any of us," Quatre confided quietly, apparently realizing that Duo was desperate to know what was going on with his partner. "He only remembers seeing Relena on a beach. He has finally calmed down a bit and has been doing nothing but working day and night on whatever task Dr. J sets him out on. They're keeping him away from the Gundam, but in some storage area attached to it. I have only seen him a handful of times… I had forgotten what he used to be like."

Duo felt his throat tighten at the thought of Heero having lost everything.

Sure, he had lost his ability to walk for a time. And he may have lost his boyfriend, but Heero had lost the freedom to be human. He had lost the humanity he had grown so comfortable wearing for the past five years. All of that progress and life that he had lived had been wiped out. Duo had been mourning the loss of his lover, but the reality was he was more disturbed that Heero had lost himself. He couldn't bring himself to reply. He tugged at his own hair roughly to try and turn his focus to something other than the depressing topic that had wheedled its way into the conversation.

"I'm sorry," Quatre said automatically at the sight of his discomfort. Duo shook his head quickly and sniffed.

"Don't be. You've done nothing wrong. I'm gonna go… uh… train for a marathon," he said as he pushed himself to a wobbly stand.

"Want me to come too? Do you need any help?" Quatre had begun to stand up to follow him but Duo cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Nah, I am just gonna try to run a little. Get my reflexes back. Muscle memory and all that jazz," he explained it away quickly before shuffling down the hall and toward the nearest workout room. The Lennon had been equipped with three separate gym facilities. One was filled with weights, the other cardio equipment and the last had an endless pool^^^ that he had used once before he was injured. He decided he would forego running and potentially busting his ass on the treadmill and try strengthening his legs and neural connections with his muscles by swimming. He had changed into a navy blue swim jammer ^^* and slipped into the still water of the specialized pool. The salt water was heated and comfortably warm. He let himself float up onto his back and reveled in the delicious weightlessness that enveloped him. He could hear his own heartbeat thumping loudly in his ears.

The smell of salt in the air reminded him of the last time he had been to the beach with Hilde over a year before and how he had spent this entire vacation in California with her fussing and worrying about Heero. He was reminded of how hurt he had been when he and the other pilot had separated and stopped talking when he had left Preventer. It was the same hurt he was feeling now.

His eyes began to sting, but not from the chemicals in the pool. He took a deep, shaken breath and tried to push the thoughts to the back of his mind but they wouldn't budge. He had put this off for too long. The tension against the weight he had forced upon his negativity began to break and soon the Pandora's Box that held his hidden emotions burst open and to reveal the darkness he had been hiding from for the past week. Hot, burning tears began to stream down the sides of his upturned face and the echo of a choked sob bounced back from the ceiling above him.

He had fought for many things in his life, but he had cherished none as much as the hard-won relationship he had once had with Heero.

* * *

* Wushu:The earliest term for 'martial arts' can be found in the Han History (206BC-23AD) was "military fighting techniques" (兵技巧; bing jiqiao). During the Song period (c.960) the name changed to "martial arts" (武艺; wuyi). In 1928 the name was changed to "national arts" (国术; guoshu) when the National Martial Arts Academy was established in Nanjing. The term reverted to wushu under the People's Republic of China during the early 1950s. - Wikipedia

** Frozen Teardrop and Operation Zero Manga: Meilan was the best martial artist on their colony, and she considered Wufei to be weak. He bested her in a duel to prove to her he was just as strong as she was and to try and win her respect.

*** Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a lethal or nonlethal physical confrontation between two or more persons at very short range (grappling distance) that does not involve the use of firearms or other distance weapons. - Google definition.

*^ The brain-spine interface bridges the spinal cord injury, in real-time and wirelessly. The neuroprosthetic system decodes spiking activity from the brain's motor cortex and then relays this information to a system of electrodes located over the surface of the lumbar spinal cord, below the injury. Electrical stimulation of a few volts, delivered at precise locations in the spinal cord, modulates distinct networks of neurons that can activate specific muscles in the legs. - .eu/neuroprosthetics-primates-regain-control-of-paralyzed-limb/

^^ Quatre displayed an ability in the show referred to as his "Space Heart" that was suggested to be a form of limited telepathy or empathy- possibly a Newtype ability. - Gundam Wikia

^^^ Rectangular lap pool that uses continuous flow of water to simulate a large pool. Requires little space and no need to turn around and switch direction. 7' x 12' to 10' x 16' swimming area-

^^* The style of men's competition swimsuits is called a jammer. Super tight swim material that covers from just below the waist to above the knee.


	12. Chapter 12

CH 12

Duo was woken by the sound of the mission siren screeching to life in the hallway. He heard urgent voices and hurried footsteps pass his door. He opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling with a frown. It was the fourth intervention that week, and it had been nearly three weeks since his fall from Snow White Gundam. In that time he had been confined to his quarters and to the fore area of the Lennon where he was slowly going insane from boredom. He had tried everything to stay busy. He had read every book on the ship at least twice, organized the pantry in the galley by tastiness, worked out until his muscles had screamed for relief, and had found Wufei's hidden stash of Atomic Fireball Candy in the hydroponics lab.

He reached under his pillow to retrieve one of the spicy, red cinnamon morsels and popped it into his mouth. The sting of the cinnamon activated his brain and woke up completely. He rolled over and buried his face into his pillow and took a long, deep breath of the faint remnants of Heero's unique metallic scent on his pillow. It had been his morning ritual since he had returned to his room. He knew it was gross to keep the same sheets and pillow case for so long, but he couldn't bring himself to change them. It was the only thing he had left to hang on to.

He got up from the bed and began getting dressed, humming a song by a band with the same name as the candy* that was rolling around on his tongue.

He opened his locker and grabbed his Ouroboros uniform. He hesitated and looked the white and navy jumpsuit over with a scowl before shoving it back into the locker and slamming it closed.

 _Why bother wearing a uniform? It isn't like I'm part of the team, anyway._ He thought bitterly as he grabbed his favorite Hilde-made black sweater from his foot locker and pulled it over his head instead. He tugged on his most comfortable grey sweatpants and shoved his feet into a ratty pair of black and white high top Chuck Taylors. He filled his left pocket with more of Wufei's candy and shoved his FLAC** media player and earbuds into the right before hopping out the door and into the empty hall.

Lennon was an enormous ship that could easily support and house fifty people. With only eight people living on the ship an individual could spend a whole day in a certain quarter and never encounter anyone else. To combat this detachment and to help with the isolation Quatre had come up with the idea of a communication board. It was an enormous dry erase board near the bridge of the ship where you could pass along information, messages, notes or assignments. The blond had attempted to organize a few group activities and had left a chessboard beside the entrance to the bridge as well. Duo was currently in a turn by turn match with Trowa, who was failing miserably at holding his queen back from an inevitable checkmate.

He stopped beside the chessboard and studied the pieces. Wufei had left a hexagonal nut on the board as a suggestion. He studied the board for a few moments before moving his rook over to bolster support of his queen, who was now only three moves away from victory. He smiled in accomplishment. An antique USD quarter dated 1984 was lying head side up beside the board. He flipped it to tails to indicate that he had taken his turn before checking the message board. He spotted Quatre's neat handwriting on the bottom corner of the board.

 _Hallway 13, 7, 2_

 _Temperature Regulation Sensors and Thermostat 721._

Duo grinned and read the numbers aloud so he could accurately log them into his memory before popping another fireball into his mouth. Quatre had promised to leave him at least one task every day on the board to give him something to do. Most of the time it was maintenance related. This time he was to sanitize floors in hallways 13, 7 and 2 and replace a few sensors at location 721. He was happy to see the second assignment. He loved tinkering, and replacing parts was right up his alley. He looked down and saw a small unmarked white box on the floor. He picked it up and opened it. The sensors and the thermostat were packed tightly inside.

"Welp, time to get to work," he said cheerfully as he fished out his earbuds and poked them into his ears. The gentle crescendo of "Everlong" by Foo Fighters swelled into his ears.

He doodled a quick chibi God of Death on the message board, grinned and made his way back to his room and snagged his toolbox from his footlocker. He had kept it stowed away there ever since he had been banned from the hangar and it's adjoining workshops for tasks just like this. He tucked the narrow silver box under his arm and made his way down the hallway to find thermostat 721.

(Check my AO3 account - BHG - for the doodle. Who knew Shinigami was so squishy?)

The thermostat in question was located right outside of the Honeymoon Suite where Relena's cryostasis chamber was being stored.

He hadn't been in the Honeymoon Suite in a while. Wufei had taken over Heero's task of maintaining Relena while Heero was out of commission. Her chamber was located in the part of the ship that Duo rarely ventured to. He paused to peek through the porthole window into the darkened room. Relena was lying suspended on her back in the same way she had been weeks ago when he had last seen her. Nothing appeared to have changed.

He frowned and pulled away from the window to approach a small circuit panel flush with the wall beside the door. He pried it open and found the thermostat and popped it off and began replacing it.

His thoughts began wandering back to the cryo room. He wondered what Relena would do if she were awake. Would she be able to help Heero more than those crackpot scientists were?

Duo scowled as he applied the final touched to his replacement before slamming the circuit panel closed. He crossed his arms and leaned against it for a moment. He stared at the closed door to the Honeymoon Suite and tried to ignore the nagging stampede of considerations and thoughts pounding against the closed door that had sealed off his mind's decision center.

He tried to focus on the music from his media player as it reverberated against his eardrums. He knew he shouldn't get involved. He had done well for the past few weeks just keeping to himself and obediently following orders.

He sighed and began tapping his foot in an attempt to release the pent up pressure building up within his body. He wanted to do something. It had been weeks since Heero had lost his memory and nothing seemed to be getting any better. Could they help him or not? Was he still just sitting around in the hangar doing nothing while everyone was running around performing interventions? What about his partner's life? Duo hated being held in limbo during his mandatory recovery, but there was light at the end of the tunnel for him. In another week he would be able to test to see if his reflexes had returned to normal and finally get back to work, but what about Heero? Was he making any progress? His prognosis was being safely guarded by the scientists, and his friends weren't forthcoming with any details.

He had to know one way or the other. He looked down at the box of sensors and his open toolbox at his feet and took a deep breath before making the decision to go find out for himself.

He found an accessible vent in the ceiling nearby and hauled himself up into it. These vents were surprisingly clean compared to the last maze of tubes he had shimmied through. Unlike the dusty, grimy ventilation system on the Lunar Base the newer vents on the Lennon were squeaky clean; a compliment to the ship's fantastic air filtration system. He slipped his body easily through the tubing. With his improved athleticism he had no trouble at all and soon had passed through the imaginary threshold that had contained him to the fore of the ship. He took a soft breath as he inched his way through the vents, navigating them using his mental map of the ship until he found the path that led to the workshops attached to the hangar. Quatre had mentioned before that Heero was being holed up in one of them. Duo didn't know if he was still being held captive but he figured he would start there first.

He paused to listen for any noise or indications that a particular workshop was being used. He heard nothing but the faint hum of the filters and the whooshing of air as it was being exchanged through the grates. He slowed his momentum to a crawl as slow as molasses to avoid making any unnecessary noise. The first overhead vent revealed an empty room filled with crates and spare parts. He crawled carefully to the second and saw that a light was glowing faintly through the slatted grate. He took a few shallow breaths and leaned in to peer through the vents and into the lit workshop. The music playing into his ears had transformed from upbeat to a slow, melodious acoustic version of "I Miss You" by the band Incubus.

He saw Heero seated in front of a nearby workbench, his upper body and face in full view. The former Wing pilot had his nose buried in a tangle of multi-color cables. He could make out the faint scent of hot solder flux from his vantage point above him.

A large pile of circuit boards and electronic parts were heaped to Heero's right. He shifted on the stool he was perched on. Duo sighed and rested his chin on his hand and watched Heero working diligently on a repair. Occasionally the Japanese man would raise a wrist to his forehead to brush his messy bangs from his relaxed face as he worked.

Duo felt his chest ache. He grit his teeth tightly and steeled himself against the flood of emotion at the sight of his partner. He hadn't seen him since his injury, and he knew that the Heero he had seen in the moment of the attack wasn't the same person who he had madly fallen for, but he was still a part of Heero that he couldn't deny.

He was the Heero he had met years ago on the naval base. The guy he had shot. The guy he had broken out of the hospital. The idiot he had dragged across the beach and helped get his suit off of the bottom of the ocean. The guy who he had tried for months to break through to and befriend. The kid who would willingly kill himself and sacrifice it all for something he believed in. The same guy who saved an entire city of people from an explosion OZ had arranged. He was the guy who fought alongside him, who shared missions with him, gave him advice on the battlefield and supported him. He was the guy who had gone out of his way to break him out of prison, rescued him from OZ, and saved everyone on Earth from the debris from the falling battleship Libra. The Heero from the past was insane. He was crazy. He was reckless. He was homicidal. He couldn't take a joke. He didn't know how to relax, or have fun, or be human. He was serious, and focused and unbendable. Despite all of this he always did what he thought was right. It was something Duo had always admired about him.

He peered through the grate at his friend again and watched as Heero reached out to grab a pair of pliers and began fiddling with some small, intricate work between his hands.

Just because Heero had reverted didn't mean that Duo loved him any less. He was still as beautiful and interesting as he had always been.

He watched Heero work for a few more minutes, taking as many mental pictures as he could of him, before shimmying backward through the duct. He stopped at the grate that led to the first empty workshop and quietly pulled the face of the vent off and let it drop with a thud onto the top of a wooden crate below. He hopped effortlessly to the floor and slinked through the door and out into the hangar. Snow White loomed ominously in the darkness overhead, her cockpit pulled out of her chest and hanging in pieces like a mangled, vivisected heart. He took out his earbuds and pocketed them as he slid silently to the second door where Heero was working and tested the knob. He was surprised to find it unlocked.

He blinked down at the knob in his hand. They weren't locking Heero down anymore. Did that mean he was no longer a danger? Or were they not terribly worried that he would steal Snow White because she was lying in pieces? He slowly turned the knob and muted the click with his fingertips before letting it slip open. He peered inside. Just as his head cleared the door Heero straightened in his seat. His head snapped up to look at him.

"Um… hi." Duo said lamely. Heero's eyes narrowed on him and he said nothing in reply.

Duo didn't know what to say. He let the rest of his body fill the doorway and watched mutely as Heero looked him over. There was no sign of recognition on his face.

"You need any help?" Duo finally blurted. He crossed the room before Heero could protest and grabbed a nearby stool and pushed it up beside the bench the Japanese man was working on and threw himself down on it. Heero was watching him with an eyebrow slightly raised. Duo rolled up his lopsided sweater sleeves and forced his most radiant smile at his friend. "I'm pretty handy with this kind of stuff, actually."

"Fine," was Heero's terse reply. He pushed the nearest board at him and resumed his previous task. Duo nodded and looked down at the warped processor socket on the motherboard in front of him. He turned it over in his hands as he tried to focus on the task at hand. He could smell Heero's tangy, zinc scent from his seat beside him and it took everything in him to resist the magnetic pull of his partner's presence. He wanted to touch him. He would have given anything to just put his hand on his arm and remind himself that he was real, and he was there, even if he was altered. He had spent weeks alone. He had lain in his bed with this man's scent enveloping him every night for the past two weeks. He was so close…

"You're the guy I injured," Heero said quietly down into his work without looking up. Duo nodded his head and popped an old port off of the board with his fingernail. He could feel a raw, stinging burn illuminate his cheeks.

"Yeah, you got me pretty good," Duo replied. He saw Heero shift on his stool.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know who you were." Heero apologized. Duo hadn't been expecting an apology. He looked up from the motherboard in front of him and studied Heero's face as the other man continued poking and pinching something with his pliers.

"You know who I am?"

"Jay told me who you are."

Duo felt his heart leap into his throat. As far as he knew Quatre, Wufei and Trowa had all agreed not to say anything about their relationship to Heero. It had been Duo's request for them not to make a big deal about it to him, or to tell him they had been together. He didn't want it to be awkward between them, especially if Heero never got his memories back. That expectation for things to go back to normal could taint whatever friendship could potentially form between them in the meantime. Duo had no idea what Dr. J would tell Heero, and he wondered how much he had told him about their relationship.

"You're Duo… right?" Heero's voice speaking his name caused his arms to break out into tingly goosebumps. He nodded and turned back to the motherboard. He had no idea what to do with it. The technology became suddenly alien to him. His hands began to tremble. He set the board down and busied his fingers with opening another candy from his pocket.

"Yeah, that's me. You want one?" He held up a candy to the Wing pilot and smiled. Heero eyed it before shaking his head 'no'. Duo shrugged and popped the second piece into his mouth. "Yep. You and I used to be best pals. Fought lots of battles. Kicked lots of ass. Did they tell you that you stopped the real Operation Meteor?"

Heero was watching him curiously his dark blue eyes widening at his words.

"I read the reports." Heero said flatly. Duo beamed and shook his head.

"Nah, you can't go just based on those old ESUN reports. They don't do the whole thing justice. You were a fucking beast, man. I know you don't remember anything, but trust me, you did a really great job. That thing with the _Mercurius_ and the Vayeate through OZ: amazing. You battled against Epyon and its pilot and you saved everyone on Earth. Everyone. You took your dual beam rifle and put it to maximum charge while the damn atmosphere was burning your back and managed to get a good lock. Then BLAM, smashed the thing into oblivion. Sure, some of the debris still fell but it gave the people of Earth one hell of a light show. What you did kept the planet from destruction. I know that's a lot to take in, but it was seriously the coolest thing I have ever seen." Duo was gushing. It felt strange to fanboy at Heero about himself. He watched as the Japanese man stared at him, his expression difficult to read. He appeared interested, but there was a hint of something Duo couldn't decipher. It had been a long time since he had to read his partner's subtle body language and he had been years without practice.

"They told me you were my partner when I was in Preventer."

"Yep! We did a lot of crazy shit there, too. You once sniped some guy at 2,100 yards away***. That's over a mile. I didn't think you could do it. I actually bet you that you couldn't, and I had to clean all of your weapons for a month after that. Then one time you and I had to stake out this mall on L1 and this group of high school girls were following you around the whole time trying to flirt with you, blowing your cover. You may not know this about yourself, but you are a serious chick magnet. You used to tell girls you would kill them to make them back off, but eventually we broke ya of that habit. Can't win any popularity contests being a homicidal maniac, right? Oh! One time we went to Earth to retrieve some stolen warheads that had been put on the bottom of an undersea trench and you almost died from pulmonary oxygen toxicity^*. And if you think that's crazy, three years ago we went undercover at a ballet school to try to bust a gun trafficking operation..."

Duo spent the next hour ranting to Heero about everything and anything he could think of while the Wing pilot listened to him intently, appearing to absorb his every word.

* * *

 **Notes:**

* The Atomic Fireballs is a Detroit band led by vocalist/songwriter John Bunkley. Specifically the song, "Man With The Hex".

** FLAC Free Lossless Audio Codec is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, and is also the name of the reference codec implementation. Digital audio compressed by FLAC's algorithm can typically be reduced to 50–60% of its original size [4] and decompress to an identical copy of the original audio data. - Wikipedia.

*** As he was touring for his book "American Sniper," Kyle talked about his tours overseas, and how his longest confirmed kill was a whopping 2,100 yards away. "Which is 21 football fields away. I can't even understand making a shot from that distance," O'Brien joked. - Google

^* Pulmonary oxygen toxicity causes a burning sensation in the trachea, coughing, shortness of breath, and eventually lung failure.


	13. Chapter 13

Heero sat silently listening to the other young man lay out his supposed past. He watched as the other pilot's hands danced through the air with enthusiastic gestures as he highlighted the exciting life he couldn't seem to remember.

He had never met anyone like this guy before. When he first entered the room he wasn't dressed like a pilot, but then when he saw that he had long hair he knew he had to be Duo Maxwell, the pilot that Dr. J had described as his partner and former companion. Dr. J had said that they were good friends. Heero couldn't believe that he had managed to get close to someone like this.

" -and then the secondary engines on the plane were out of commission. The thing was slipping* all over the place because the starboard ailerons** were all fucked from the fire we took from the OZ Specials. You climbed out onto the damn wing and manually adjusted the ailerons while I ditched*** the plane on a lake. Crazy shit, man. And then-"

Heero had found himself staring at the other pilot as he talked. He was the most animated person he had ever seen. As he spoke every emotion that he seemed to be experiencing in the moment was reflected across his handsome face. Duo Maxwell was a strange mixture of masculinity and softness that Heero had never seen before. His full mouth was constantly turned up into a smile, but the energy in his eyes didn't always match the sentiments of his face. When he had first entered the room he appeared weak and insecure, but now that he appeared more comfortable he seemed the most confident and self-assured person he had ever encountered. Watching this other young man's continuous transformations Heero got the impression that this person was exceptionally complex.

Was that why they had become friends?

"How did I meet you?" Heero interrupted. Duo's stream of consciousness skidded to a stop. He gaped at him for a handful of seconds as if he were trying to reset his brain and gather his thoughts.

"Well, funny story actually. I shot ya. Twice."

Heero blinked. "You are my friend, but you shot me?"

"Well, no… I mean, yeah, but we weren't friends yet." Duo was stammering. Heero watched him hesitate, his energy dropping for a fraction of a second before his face illuminated and his positive energy rebounded once more. "You were threatening Relena with a gun. You know, that girl you remember seeing? I don't know if they told you, but she ends up being a huge part of your life. She was more important to you than I was, especially at the beginning."

"Important?" Heero echoed, wondering what the other young man meant by that. Duo began waving his hands in front of him as if swatting away something he didn't want to think about before worrying the motherboard in front of him with his hands.

"Yeah, important. She's kind of a big deal, actually. She was one of the main motivating factors for you throughout the whole war. Both wars. Relena Peacecraft. That name mean anything to you?"

"I read about her," Heero replied. He watched Duo drop the motherboard onto the tabletop and adjust the neck of his atrocious sweater, his eyes distant as if he were having a heated internal debate.

"You want to see her?"

"Who?"

"Relena. She's here on the ship."

"I'm not supposed to leave the hangar," Heero informed him. Duo rolled his eyes and huffed loudly.

"Jesus, I forgot, you're stuck in mission mode. Don't worry about it, nobody is going to care. You aren't breaking any orders." The other young man had launched himself off of his stool and made his way to exit the workshop. He stopped within the doorway and had crossed his arms over his chest. "Listen, I know you don't know me from Adam, but you can trust me. I promise."

Heero frowned. He had just listened to this other guy tell him about himself for the past hour. He didn't know what to think, but he felt a strange hollow trust echoing from the empty part of himself, as if someone was yelling from the bottom of his cavernous mind that it was okay and that Duo Maxwell could be trusted.

He nodded and got up to follow him. The motion seemed to please the other pilot, whose eyes and facial expression finally came into sync. He fell into step behind him as the other young man led him up to the second level and to a door secured by a keypad. His long, slender fingers ghosted over the numbers and the door unlocked and revealed long, white hallways beyond it. As they entered the main body of the ship Duo had doubled back to walk beside him. The way the braided pilot moved was loping and casual. His long rope of hair swung with each step. Heero found himself imagining what that braid felt like. He could almost feel its cool, silky weight wrapped around his hand. The thought pierced his mind and sent a searing pain across his eyes. He closed them against the pain and stumbled. He felt his shoulder supported by a firm hand.

"Hey, you okay?"

He opened his eyes to see Duo peering into his face, his violet colored eyes wide with concern. Heero nodded and straightened his posture. He felt Duo's hand retreat quickly from his shoulder.

"Yes." Heero said quietly. He watched Duo's expression shift a few times before settling on what he assumed was the other pilot's casual, content default. Despite the mask he could still see concern reflected intensely in the other young man's eyes. He led him to a secluded area of the ship where a toolbox and an air conditioning vent had been removed just outside of a closed door. Duo had paused in front of the door and appeared to be debating whether this was a good idea or not before swinging the door open to reveal a darkened room.

Heero followed him inside and upon entering was immediately greeted by the sight of a woman lying in a serene, cold sleep within a cryostasis tube. Her body was clad with heavy gauze around her upper torso and waist and her body was bathed in a golden glow. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. He swallowed hard and carefully approached the tube and stared down at her.

He had a strange feeling about her, as if he had once been classmates with her only to reunite as adults years later. She seemed vaguely familiar and yet foreign at the same time. He placed a hand on top of the chilled glass over her face and took a deep, surprisingly shaken breath.

"Relena," he muttered automatically, her name slipping easily over his lips. He saw Duo shove his hands into his pockets as he stood nearby and watched him. "Why is she in here?"

He saw the American man frown. "They didn't tell you shit, did they? What the hell…" he was mumbling. "She chose to be like this. It was a plan you both had. You were originally supposed to be frozen like this, too."

"Why didn't I?" This was the first Heero had heard about any of this. His question had caused the other pilot's body to tense.

"Let's just say some dumb shit happened and you changed your mind," Duo said quickly. "You wanted to work here with Ouroboros and one of your new missions was to protect her until she is thawed out again. Whenever that is. Wufei has been doing all of your work here for you."

Heero nodded. The Chinese man had been aloof with him in all of their encounters. He was surprised to hear that he was doing something so personal for him behind the scenes.

"What was this woman to me?" Heero asked as he studied the expressionless face of Relena Peacecraft. She looked so different from his memory of her. When he has seen her on the beach she had been much younger. Her hair was shorter then, and her features more doe-like. Now she appeared hard and made of ice.

"Well, ya see, that's kind of a complicated question to answer," Duo began explaining. Heero saw him shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other, his hands still shoved in his pockets. Heero tore his eyes away from Relena and watched as Duo's cheeks began to rouge at the top of his cheekbones. He didn't seem comfortable talking about it, which only made him more curious about the answer.

"Was she my…?"

"Lover? For a while, yeah." Duo said with a nod. "You were kind of obsessed with this girl. She … I dunno… was kind of like a symbol to you."

"Symbol?"

"Yeah, she stands for peace. Everything she does is for it. She has dedicated her life to attaining and inspiring the world to learn to live without war or violence," the American pulled his hands out of his pockets and approached the tube almost reverently. Heero watched as Duo reached out to touch the tube but didn't dare come in contact with it. He was close to him now, and Heero was suddenly very aware of the other pilot's body and its proximity to his own. "So you really can't remember her?"

"I don't remember anything about this girl, except her seeing me on the beach," Heero said flatly. He couldn't take his eyes away from the other pilot. Duo appeared to notice he was staring and recoiled away from him and retreated for the door. Heero followed him.

"Shit. I was hoping you'd at least remember her…" Duo said absently, his eyes flitting back to the tube before leading Heero out into the hallway. He didn't know what to say.

"You hungry?" Duo asked.

"No."

"Well come with me anyway," Duo replied. He was hurrying off down the hallway and Heero could do nothing but follow him.

He had never felt so out of control before. His entire life had been guided by the directions of others, but he had always been fully informed of the mission. Being so out of touch with the world and people around him was unsettling. He was used to relying on himself to get things done. He had never relied so much on someone else before. Now he was expected to blindly trust an entire team of people. Dr. J had told him that Duo Maxwell was his good friend. He couldn't imagine even having a friend, let alone trusting someone as implicitly as he supposedly had done with this smiling, chaotic American. If what Duo had told him was true then his completed self had instilled unlimited trust in him. The stories Duo had told him had made that obvious.

The other pilot had led him to the ship's galley and immediately began fussing with a coffee machine. Heero stood by the door and watched him silently.

"You want a coffee?"

"Ok."

Duo smiled and prepared two cups. He gestured for Heero to take a seat at a nearby table and joined him. He slid a cup to him him. Heero grasped it gently with his fingertips and took a tentative sip. He watched as Duo's face transitioned again from a look of trepidation to a stony determination.

"What do they have you doing down there anyway?" The American asked before taking a sip from his own steaming cup.

"Repairs," Heero replied. He saw Duo's eyebrow twitch.

"They trying to help you get your memories back at all?"

"Jay has been giving me electroshock therapy."

"But it's not helping, right?"

"No."

The other pilot seemed annoyed about his lack of progress. He didn't know what else to say. He watched as Duo sucked down his hot coffee at an amazing speed before standing up and pacing the room.

"Why did this even happen in the first place? Does anyone even know why? ARMISTICE did this to you. I saw it. So why aren't they asking it?"

"Asking?"

"Yeah. The A.I. that they're uninstalling from Snow White. It attacked you. Do you know if anyone asked it why it did it?"

"... No." Heero was confused. What was he even talking about?

Duo suddenly checked his watch and frowned. "I gotta get you back to the hangar before someone notices you're gone."

Heero nodded and stood up. He followed Duo back to the hangar in silence. The other young man seemed preoccupied with his own thoughts and was surprisingly quiet as they moved through the hangar, past the Gundam and back to the workshop where he had been tinkering when Duo had found him.

The braided pilot stopped just inside the room and turned to face him. "Don't worry. I'm gonna find a way to fix this."

Heero didn't know how to respond. He watched as Duo fished through both his pockets for a long moment before reaching out to hand him something. Heero held out his hands and watched as the other pilot dumped a media player and headphones into his left hand, and a handful of small red candy into his right.

"What is all this?"

"It's boring as hell down here. Just something to keep you busy. I'm gonna talk to Dr. J later when they come back from mission. You can't keep living down here, this place is a bummer."

Heero didn't think so, but he shrugged and nodded anyway.

"Thank you." He replied. He watched as Duo paused in front of him. He lifted his hand as if to grasp his shoulder but then quickly reversed the motion and tore himself backwards. His eyes appeared pained, but his smile was beaming at its brightest wattage.

"Yeah no problem," Duo replied before rushing out of the room. Heero set the items he had been given on the workbench and went to poke his head out of the workshop and peered around. He was alone; the other pilot was nowhere to be seen.

He returned to the workbench and stared down at the pile of processors with a frown. He slipped past it and to the back of the room where the cot he had been sleeping on was and took a seat on it. He fished a small, battered laptop out from beneath the cot, opened it and began pulling up every file he could find on Duo Maxwell, pilot 02.

* * *

 **Notes:**

* "A slip is an aerodynamic state where an aircraft is moving somewhat sideways as well as forward relative to the oncoming airflow or relative wind. In other words, for a conventional aircraft, the nose will be pointing in the opposite direction to the bank of the wing(s). The aircraft is not in coordinated flight and therefore is flying inefficiently." - Wiki

** "An aileron (French for 'little wing') is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around the aircraft's longitudinal axis), which normally results in a change in flight path due to the tilting of the lift vector. Movement around this axis is called 'rolling' or 'banking'." - Wiki

*** "Ditching is the same as a forced landing of aircraft, only on water." - Wiki


	14. Chapter 14

**Part One**

"I want control over Heero's care," Duo said firmly. He crossed his arms over his chest and attempted to put forth his best no-nonsense expression.

He saw Trowa smirk from where he was standing in the corner of the room. Quatre was seated across the table from him, flanked by Dr. J and Professor G, who were looking at him with heavy, analytical expressions. Wufei was seated beside him to his right. He had proposed the idea to the Chinese pilot the night before when they had returned from their intervention. He had been surprisingly supportive of him and had arranged the meeting.

"We are trying the best we can. It is imperative that Heero maintains a calm, low stress mindset while in this altered state," Professor G was grumbling at him.

"Why? What's the point of isolation? He isn't getting any better with no stimulation," Duo argued. His hands balled into tight fists against the tabletop. "It's been long enough. If he doesn't get his memories back, then so be it. You guys keeping him locked up like a mad dog in a kennel isn't fair."

"I agree with Duo," Quatre said with a frown. "It's time that we accept that this may be Heero's new normal."

Duo sat back and waited for his answer. He hadn't told anyone except Wufei that he had snuck into the hangar to see Heero. The former Shenlong pilot had been angry at him at first, but after he had explained what he had to try to do with Relena and reassured him that the former Wing pilot hadn't tried to kill him he settled down.

"I promise I'll take care of him," Duo said quickly. He felt like a first grader begging his parents to keep a puppy. A shaggy, homicidal puppy.

"I am okay with it," Dr. J said with a wide grin. Professor G rolled his eyes. Howard, who was standing beside the door behind him, chuckled.

"Fine. But he isn't allowed to touch the Gundam or connect to any neural bonding or pairing devices," Professor G said. Duo smiled widely with accomplishment and rose to his feet.

"Wait a minute. We're not done with you," G grumbled. "How are you feeling? How are your legs?"

Duo hopped up and down experimentally and grinned. "I'm great. I feel fine."

"Good," Dr. J's grin widened, threatening to crack his face in half. "As you probably know Gundam Snow White is currently out of commission. It has been taking longer to reinstall her BIOS than we had estimated. ARMISTICE is literally refusing to be wiped. It has crippled our ability to intervene."

"Yeah, I bet. So what do you want me to do about it?" Duo asked he crossed his arms over his chest and waited. He saw Quatre smirk at him from across the table.

"We need you to pick up the new Gundam," Quatre said plainly. "On L2."

Duo's arms dropped limply to his sides. He looked from Quatre to Professor G and blinked."Another Gundam? Jesus, you guys just have these things laying around all over the place, don't you?"

"Project Warlock had been cancelled soon after the Eve Wars during the disarmament," Professor G said gruffly.

"Warlock? Seriously, you guys gotta come up with better names." Duo replied. "So I go to get this thing on L2, huh? Why is it there?"

Professor G smiled darkly from behind his pointed nose. He had leaned his elbows on the table and was clutching his bony hands together. "It was made with spare parts from your Gundam Deathscythe."

Duo's violet eyes widened and he felt a shock wave of excitement jolt through his torso.

"Deathscythe? Are you frickin' kidding me? Wait a minute, you had all these spare parts lying around and you didn't tell me?!"

"Take the mission or leave it," Professor G snapped from across the table.

"Of course I'll take it! Wow… okay. But I've got one stipulation." Duo said with a bright smile.

"What?" Dr. J was watching him closely with his swiveling robotic gaze.

"We rename this damn thing. Deathscythe is gone, but if this is its clone, it needs to have a better name."

"Fine whatever, just get going." Professor G hissed. Duo hopped over his chair and strode happily toward the door.

"Oh yeah, I'm takin' Heero with me." He said over his shoulder and darted out into the hallway before anyone could protest. He began making his way down the hall toward the hangar to collect his friend when he felt a presence flanking him. He looked over his shoulder to see Trowa approach him and match his stride.

"So what's the new name?" Trowa asked conversationally as the walked side by side.

"Lucifer," Duo said proudly. "The original Angel of Death."

 **Part Two**

Heero pulled the light blue Saitama Seibu Lions* baseball cap he had been given down over his eyes, shouldered his red duffle bag and ducked his head as a L2 CPD cruiser drove past them. Duo didn't seem too concerned that anyone would recognize them. He was walking with his hands clasped behind his head and grinning up at the dingy, dilapidated buildings that leaned over the colony's uneven streets. He appeared completely at ease.

"It's just a few blocks this way," Duo said brightly as he hopped over a giant hole in the sidewalk and danced around a street performer who was playing a pair of upside down buckets with a stick for credits. Heero couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had been to L2 before with Odin, but he hadn't remembered it looking like this. He supposed that at the time their target had been someone of status and lived in another part of the colony.

He tugged the collar up on his denim jacket and adjusted the front of his layered sweaters. He had thought the American was crazy for forcing him to wear so many clothes, but now that they were on the colony he was glad for it. It was freezing. The local time was nearly 1400. The colony's temperature regulation system should have simulated an afternoon sun, but evidently it was malfunctioning.

He knew from his research that Duo was from this colony. He had accessed his personal data banks and had sifted through a sizeable file about the former Deathscythe pilot. He knew that he was one of the only survivors of the Maxwell Church Massacre, and that he was recruited from this colony specifically for his natural piloting ability and increased brain activity. He was glad he had read up on him, it had given him a new perspective of his partner.

Duo dropped his hands from their perch behind his head and shoved them into the pockets of his black hooded sweatshirt. Heero couldn't see the other pilot's long coil of hair at all. The American had expertly hidden its mass with knitted beanie cap and the hood of his sweatshirt.

"Over here there used to be a music shop. Sucks it isn't there anymore, I was gonna see about getting you your own music player," Duo said casually as they strolled along. Heero dropped his hands into his own jacket pockets and felt the FLAC player Duo had given him. He pulled it from his pocket and tried to hand it back to him.

"Nah. You keep it, I have another one at Hilde's." He said brightly as he pushed Heero's hand away and refused to take it back. "I'm glad you're using it. You can borrow it for as long as you wanna."

Heero sighed and shoved it back into his pocket. Duo had given him the media player to alleviate his boredom in the hangar. He hadn't used it much at first. He never had much access to music in the past. It was just not something he had ever indulged in or experienced. He had avoided using the one Duo had lent him at first but eventually he found a playlist with his name on it. Intrigued, he listened to it. The music on that playlist was unlike anything else on Duo's player. Most of the music was heavy metal, something labeled "dubstep", "rock" or "hardcore". The tracks on the playlist with his name were varied, slower songs that seemed to blend together with purpose. The first song on the list was a track entitled "Red Barchetta" by Rush. Every time his ears were treated to that song his head began to feel light and his spine began to tingle. It wasn't a remarkably unique song. It had guitars and drums and a guy singing in a whiny voice, but for some reason he would have a physiological response to it every time.

Duo had stopped on the sidewalk and was staring at an empty dirt lot. Heero stood by and watched as the other pilot hesitated before stepping over a fringe of dead grass to walk to the center of the lot. Duo's energy was stifled and his movements were subdued. Heero stayed back and remained behind on the sidewalk. He watched closely as the other pilot knelt down to inspect something half buried in the ground. He stayed there for almost a full minute looking at something before pushing himself up to a stand. Heero watched as Duo made a gesture he could barely see from his vantage point, starting from his face and touching his shoulders and his torso before turning to sulk back toward him.

He looked disturbed and his face was contorted as if he had just received a blow to the stomach.

"I can't believe they got rid of it," Duo muttered softly, his voice wavering.

"What was that?"

Duo shook his head and continued walking down the sidewalk. Heero obediently trailed along behind him.

They eventually made it to a short street lined with industrial buildings. Duo's demeanor lightened as they neared a storefront at the end of the road. It was a squat, one-story building with barred windows and a tinted black door. "Sweeper Depot" was glowing in flickering green neon on a sign just over the door. The braided pilot boldly swung the door open and wasted no time going inside.

"Honey! I'm hoooome!" Duo yelled loudly. Heero stood in the doorway and scanned the room. It appeared to be merely the front face of a shop with a long counter splitting it down the center. A few parts and caustic cleaning supplies were lying in the center, alongside a computer and an old wired phone. On the wall to Heero's right was a newspaper clipping taped to the otherwise bare wall. He peered at it and saw Duo's boyish face grinning beside that of a young woman. The headline read " _Local Business Owner Renovates Massacre Monument"_.

"Duo!"

Heero looked just in time to see a girl with dark blue hair dart out of a back room and pounce on the other pilot. She began kissing his cheeks with enthusiasm, causing the American chuckle and pretend to get away.

"Finally! What took you guys so long? You were supposed to be here two hours ago!" The woman scolded. Duo shrugged and gave her a gentle hug before hooking his arm over her shoulder to stand beside her.

"Hey, I wasn't driving the shuttle, okay?"

"I guess that's a good thing. This colony doesn't need any more shuttle accidents."

"What? Pssh, whatever." Duo was grinning. Heero felt a strange tug at his chest at the sight of the other pilot appearing genuinely happy. The expression on his face was nothing like the ones he had seen him perform up until now. He felt his own breathing strain as his lungs began to burn at the sight of it. "Oh shit, I forgot. Heero, this is Hilde."

Heero nodded to the woman in greeting. He saw her smile fade at the sight of him.

"Wow, you were right…" Hilde said quietly before untangling herself from the other pilot to approach him. "Um, hi. I'm Hilde." She held her hand out to shake his. He took it and shook it firmly.

"Heero," he said flatly. His voice made her look back at Duo. The other pilot just nodded and gave her a reassuring look.

"So this is Duo Maxwell, huh?" A deep male voice boomed from a nearby doorway. Heero saw a large figure step into the room. A tall, clean-shaven man with short, sandy brown hair stepped over and extended a hand to Duo, who shook it with a smile.

"That's my name. You're…?"

"Alex. Alex Duran." The man said cheerfully. Hilde had stepped up next to the man and leaned against him with a bright smile.

"Nice to meet you," Duo said pleasantly, though Heero noticed his eyes had shifted and the former unrestrained happiness had been put in check. The American stepped back away from the couple and took his place beside him. Heero frowned and watched the exchange in silence.

"Yeah, Alex moved in with me a week or two ago. He's been a great help around the shop…" Hilde said weakly. Alex hooked his arm over her shoulders the same way Duo had only a minute before and squeezed her against the side of his chest. The man was enormous, definitely over six-foot tall and was an imposing figure against the slight woman beside him.

"That's great," Duo replied with a smile. "Really, that's awesome. It's nice to see Hilde's finally got some help around here."

The energy in the room was shifting and Heero wasn't sure he understood why. When they had first entered Duo had been unrestrained but now he appeared to be resorting to forced politeness. Hilde appeared to notice this change, too. Heero saw her shifting uncomfortably in her boyfriend's grasp.

"Well, let me help you guys get settled in. I'm sure you're exhausted and want some rest."

Duo nodded and shrugged his black bag further up his shoulder as Hilde walked through a side door and beckoned them to follow. Heero kept behind Duo, and saw that the man named Alex was studying him closely. He avoided looking at him and followed Duo and Hilde into a side room that appeared to be a guest room.

"I thought you'd want to stay in the shop, as opposed to in the house with … well… " Hilde was saying quietly as she led them in. "It only has one bed, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, I forgot…"

Duo was waving his hand and shaking his head. "It's fine, really. It really is fine. I'm sorry for putting you, out, we should have gotten a room somewhere."

"No! NO! Absolutely not. Duo, this is your place, you have every right to be here." Hilde was protesting. Duo tossed his bag onto the bed and walked up to Hilde and grabbed her hands tightly. Heero saw her faltering, her eyes wide as if she was scared to speak.

"It's fine. And stop saying it is mine, this is your shop now, Hilde. You can do whatever you want, and have whoever you want living in it. This room is great, it will be fine. Trust me, okay?" The American's voice was silky and soothing. Heero felt like he was intruding on them and their emotional exchange. He stepped to the far side of the room and tried busying himself with setting his own bag on a small table nearby. "Thanks for having us. We'll only need to stay a few days, okay? So how is this guy treating you, anyway?"

Heero frowned and kicked off his shoes. The local time was only 1523, but he was feeling drained from the travel and decided he was going to lie down for a while**. He pulled his coat off and grabbed the media player from his pocket. He didn't have anywhere else to go, but he felt like he was intruding on the two and their private exchange. He shoved the earbuds into his ears and dropped down to lay on the top of the blankets of the full size bed and let the plucky guitar opening of "Red Barchetta" drown out the other two voices in the room.

 **Part Three**

Coming back to L2 had been a challenge. Duo had expected it, but what he hadn't expected was the Maxwell Church Massacre Monument to be gone. Lots of things had changed on L2: the colors of buildings, the faces of the locals, Hilde and her boyfriend, the shops. He just couldn't get over that. It had angered him to see it. How could the colony pretend that the slaughter had never happened? What was going to be put there now? Probably another shop that would eventually close and remain abandoned and empty like the rest of the colony.

He had left Heero in the room and had gone out for food. His favorite taco vendor was long gone, but he found another cart and bought an armful and had returned to the shop. Hilde and her new boyfriend Alex were nowhere to be found. She had made some excuse about how they needed to go to mass. Duo sighed. Hilde had never been one for going to church, so he assumed it was something her new guy was getting her into. He couldn't complain too much, church was probably the least of their problems. Normally he liked the guys Hilde brought home, but this guy was setting off alarms and red alerts like crazy. He couldn't figure out what it was he didn't like about the guy.

He pushed the guest room door open and stepped inside. The room used to be a workshop but had been converted into a bedroom. Duo thought it was odd, but it wasn't his shop anymore and he wasn't going to question Hilde's choices. He smirked and wondered if she was going to convert part of it into a bed and breakfast or something. If she did it would have been Alex who made that decision. Hilde just wasn't that type of chick. The thought of church-going Hilde running a B&B in a flowery apron made him huff under his breath. He crossed the room and tossed the tacos on the table at the foot of the bed. Heero was where he had left him an hour before. The Japanese man had fallen asleep with his earbuds in and still hadn't moved. Duo sighed and found himself staring at him.

It had been difficult getting used to Heero's new normal. He had found himself on edge at first, afraid to say or do something that would set Heero off. To his surprise the guy was relatively mellow compared to how he used to be. He may have lost his memories, but he wasn't as aggressive and antisocial as Duo had expected. Instead he had seemed to settle into a passive mode where he just followed whatever order was given.

He crossed his arms and sighed. He still wasn't ready to accept that this was going to last forever, but he had no hope that anything would change anytime soon. He didn't have any answers. The scientists promised to try a few new techniques on him when they came back to Lennon, and told him to just keep the stimulation on Heero down to a minimum in the meantime.

 _What kind of fucking masochist am I?_ He thought forlornly as he stood at the foot of the bed and studied the forbidden body lying asleep in front of him.

It was hard to be around Heero. Every time the guy glared at something or gave a one-word answer he was reminded of everything that had been lost. Heero had come a long way in five years, but this new "old Heero" served as a constant reminder that ARMISTICE had snuffed out any of that progress.

Duo was having a bad day and he knew it. _I just gotta sleep and start over tomorrow,_ he thought with a sigh. He toed off his combat boots and suddenly had no craving at all for tacos. He walked over to dim the lights in the room before inching his way to the opposite side of the bed. He didn't have a problem sleeping next to Heero, and the other young man hadn't protested when he saw the room they would be sharing. In the past during Operation Meteor they had shared beds many times without batting an eye at it. To Heero this may have been nothing, but Duo was still hesitant. He was considering taking the floor but thought better of it.

 _Just act like everything's fine,_ he reminded himself as he pulled the covers back and slipped beneath them. He let his arms stretch out over his head before resting it on them. He closed his eyes and could hear the faint sound of "Immortals" by Fall Out Boy playing into Heero's ears beside him.

As he fell asleep he caught the lyrics mid-song.

 _Sometimes the only payoff for having any faith_  
 _Is when it's tested again and again everyday_  
 _I'm still comparing your past to my future_  
 _It might be over, but they're not sutures..._

 **Part Four**

" _Just relax, okay?"_

 _Heero felt the red hot wildfire of arousal blanket his body as the Deathscythe pilot pressed his hips against him and kissed his neck. He felt Duo's hand slip down the front of his green tank top and tease the waistband of his black shorts. He automatically snapped his hand down to stop Duo from venturing any further. He could feel the other pilot's warm, exasperated sigh against his cheek._

" _You don't trust me," Duo whispered into his ear before playfully poking his stomach. Heero didn't know what to say. He hadn't expected this to happen. It had started with a simple kiss, and before he knew it Duo had him pressed against the leg of his Gundam. Things were moving faster than he could have imagined they would. He didn't know what to do. He had spent an entire month secretly playing this scenario out in his head when he was alone, but having the American's flesh actually touching his own was overwhelming him._

" _Wait a minute," Duo said softly. "You… you've never done this before, have you?"_

 _Heero felt the flush of embarrassment color his body white. He shoved Duo away and tried to retreat but the other pilot had grabbed his shoulders to prevent him from escape._

" _Wait! Wait, I'm not making fun of you, I'm just asking a question. Come on, don't run away."_

 _What am I doing? Why am I doing this?_

" _Just forget it," Heero hissed as he tried to shrug Duo's hands from his shoulders. The other pilot wouldn't take no for an answer. He had managed to slip in front of him to block his path of escape and had latched onto his shoulders tightly._

" _Heero, come on. I'm sorry, okay? Just… let me try something. If you don't like it, we can stop."_

 _Heero stared into Duo's wide, pleading violet eyes and caved._

" _Fine."_

" _Alright. Just… come over here…" Duo was pushing him gently back to his previous position. He leaned back reluctantly against Wing's leg and felt the cool sting of the gundanium alloy against the backs of his exposed arms and thighs. The Deathscythe pilot had slipped around to stand beside him. He felt his body press gently against his side._

" _Close your eyes, and just relax a little. I'm not gonna hurt ya."_

 _Heero shut his eyes, grit his teeth and waited. He felt Duo lean into him and detected his fingers slowly slipping from his shoulder down the center of his chest and to the waist of his shorts. He jumped at a slight pinch against his neck as Duo nipped him before kissing the assaulted spot in apology. Heero felt a groan building in his throat but refused to set it loose. He sucked in a shaking breath just as Duo dipped his hand past his waistband and snaked his fingers down to grasp his hard-_

Heero sat bolt upright in the bed and snapped his hand over his mouth to catch the moan that was threatening to slip free. He felt the bed shake as Duo sat up beside him, startled, and stared at him. Music was still blaring in his ears, but he could read Duo's lips as he asked him if he was okay. Heero nodded and quickly jumped from the bed, ran into the bathroom and slammed the door closed behind him. He looked down and to his horror his red pants were bulging. He was rock hard and he could feel the hot, pleading throbs of his cock against the tightness of the fabric. He leaned heavily against the inside of the door and sucked in a deep breath, ripped the earbuds from his ears and and tried to let this reality settle into his confused mind.

He had dreamed about Duo Maxwell. He felt his cheeks burn with the realization that he had gotten a hard-on from the thought of his partner touching him. He heard a faint knock from outside the door.

"Yo, Heero? You okay?"

"Yes," he replied automatically, though he definitely didn't mean it. He could feel Duo's presence standing just on the opposite side of the door. That presence only stoked the lust within his body. He bit his lower lip and forced his voice through his teeth. "I'm fine."

"Okay." The American said softly. He heard him shuffle away from the door.

Heero frowned and glared down at his arousal and waited for a few minutes for it to subside, but it continued to throb against his pants defiantly. His frown deepened. He reached over to turn on the sink's faucet to full blast before reaching down to expose his problematic erection. He knew he would have to take care of it. He took a deep breath and let his hand envelope its stiffened length and fall into his usual pattern of gentle strokes and firm rubs. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something to help the process along. He was shocked to see the same image he had left behind in his dream fill his mind.

A slightly younger, boyish Duo Maxwell was grinning back at him in his mind's eye. He opened his eyes and blinked before trying again. Once more his mind presented the face of the Deathscythe pilot. Irritated, he decided to just finish as fast as he could despite the images being presented.

His dream began replaying over in his head as he stroked himself. Duo was standing beside him. He could smell his faint scent. The other pilot always smelled faintly of sweet almonds, similar to the scent of cyanide. He began imagining leaning in to bury his face into the side of the other young man's head and taking in his unique scent while Duo slipped his slender hands firmly across his cock. He imagined him sucking gently at his collarbone and moaning while he returned the favor, grasping and pulling at Duo's arousal at the same time. He imagined forcing the lithe American to lean back against Wing as he dropped to his knees and took his thick, long cock into his own mouth and sucked hard against him, stirring up moans and cries from his partner.

He felt his own hips rocking hard against his hand as he got closer to cumming. His breathing was raspy and he could feel his heart racing and pounding in time with the heavy throb of his erection against his hand.

His imagination went off the deep end, and soon he was envisioning slipping his own weeping erection into Duo's body while the other pilot writhed and moaned pathetically under him. The image was enough to send him over the edge. He forced himself hard against his hand and filled it with his own heavy, sticky ejaculate.

He was panting. He leaned back against the door and felt the searing burn of shame light up his body.

What the hell is wrong with me…

He stayed locked in the bathroom for an hour until he was sure Duo had fallen asleep before slipping out and curling up on the floor next to the bed to sleep.

* * *

Footnotes:

* "Between 1978 and 2008, the team logo and mascot were based on the adult version of Kimba the White Lion, a classic Japanese anime series by Osamu Tezuka." - Google

** Dude will use any excuse to sleep, seriously.

*** "Red Barchetta" by Rush is a song about a future where sports cars are banned. The main character in the song describes taking his old uncle's Red Barchetta for a spin despite the ban and almost getting caught by rule enforcers.

/AN: Thanks everyone for the reviews and encouragement! /


	15. Chapter 15

Part One

Heero watched Duo's muted image waving its arms angrily at a stern woman seated behind a desk through the glass wall that separated the waiting area from the city council member's office. The white-haired woman pushed her round glasses up the center of her nose and crossed her hands on the desktop and stared apathetically at the former Deathscythe pilot while he spilled his frustrations out on her.

Duo had awoken him early that morning and had said that they would have a busy day. Heero suspected that the other pilot's eagerness to leave the shop so early had something to do with his hidden disdain for the man named Alex, who was lecturing them on the finer points of business ownership the entire time they had coffee with Hilde. Heero didn't know why they were there, but he figured it had something to do with the missing Maxwell Church Monument from the dirt lot the day before.

Heero looked down at the FLACC player in his hands and clicked casually through the tracks listed there. Duo had countless playlists labeled different things. "Wrenchin' on Mechs", "Workout: Treadmill", "Workout: Free Weights", "Chill", "Heero's Playlist", "Duo's Battle Playlist", "Trap Nation", "Cobra Cruising", and "Sick Drops" were the top on the list. He thumbed through the menus and found a playlist entitled "Church" at the bottom of the list. As he opened it the first track began to play. A man's voice accompanied by a choir of voices snaked into his ears, swelled by a melodious upswing of a piano. "Somebody To Love" by Queen had been played over 10k times according to the song's statistics.

Heero leaned back heavily against his chair and looked up to see Duo standing frozen on the opposite side of the council member's desk with a cold expression on his face while the woman calmly spoke to him, her face hard and unforgiving.

He felt a peculiar tension building in his legs as he watched the other pilot absorbing the clearly hurtful words being directed at him. He swallowed hard. All morning he had avoided looking into that face. His embarrassment and shame for allowing himself to find pleasure at the thought of the other pilot had been too much to handle. As the morning grinded by he had managed to push those thoughts away, but now he felt the singeing heat of that shame searing his body again.

Duo's lips were moving. He had moved to stand behind the chair across from the woman's desk and was leaning both hands on the back of it as if he were having trouble standing upright. He looked disgusted. Heero saw the woman shrug her shoulders and shake her head.

He suddenly felt the urge to do something. The raw, unrestrained emotion in the voice of the man singing into his ears was spurring him on, reinforcing a hidden command given to him from somewhere deep within his hollow consciousness. He couldn't watch the other pilot suffer anymore.

He decided to obey the subconscious command of his body and hopped to his feet. He pushed past the council member's protesting secretary and slammed the office door open. Duo had spun around to stare at him, his mouth agape. The councilwoman was watching him coolly, her expression indifferent.

Once in the room he didn't know what to do next. He hesitated before abruptly snatching Duo by the arm and dragging him roughly out into the hallway.

"Heero? What the fuck?!" he could hear Duo yelling over the music pounding in his ears.

Heero felt his partner pull firmly against his grasp but he didn't try to free his arm. He dragged Duo roughly out of the building and onto its stone steps before turning to face him. The other pilot's narrow wrist was still clutched tightly in his hand. Duo was clearly shocked, his full lips parted in his confusion. Heero felt an electric shock coursing through his body at the scent of almonds filling his nostrils. His mind was slammed back into the memory from the night before. His fantasy had produced the same scent. It dawned on him that he had no previous knowledge of that fact, and yet he inherently knew that intimate detail of his partner's body.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Duo's words were more abrasive than the tone he presented them with. Heero released his arm, pulled the earbuds from his ears and shoved them into his pocket.

"I…" he began to speak but was cut short by a ripping sensation in his skull. He grabbed his forehead and collapsed to a sit on the top step of the buildings stairs and cradled his face in his hands.

"Oh, shit. Hey, are you okay?" Duo's voice sounded panicked from above him. He felt his companion's hand grasp his shoulder as the other pilot dropped to a sit beside him. The touch sent a chill across his body and a blast of energy crack through his stinging mind.

Blurred, distorted images cast across his disjointed memory, displaying fragments of memories of Duo clasping his hand on his shoulder in that very same way. It was clear to Heero that they had been very familiar in the past, and that their friendship was closer than he had originally thought. He would have never allowed anyone to touch him like that if that person hadn't been important to him.

Heero was beginning to realize what he had found in Duo as a friend. He was his polar opposite in almost every way. At first Heero couldn't imagine wanting someone like that around, but he was soon realizing that Duo Maxwell complimented him. He wasn't intimidated by his silence, nor did he need him to say much of anything to hold a conversation.

He was practicing that skill now. "You gonna be okay? Sorry about all that, I guess that shit was too much stimulation, huh? Fuck that lady. Seriously, this whole thing is just fucked up."

Heero looked up at him from his hands and felt the pain gradually ebb from his eyes. Duo was sitting next to him with his hand still tightly cupped over his shoulder, his eyes cast down the steps and studying the sprawling colony beyond.

"It's funny how everyone can just forget the past like it never happened. How're we all gonna change if nobody can accept the truth of our history? She said that the colony needs to move on and improve the morale of the colony. They're gonna put a fast food chain restaurant where the memorial was. A burger joint. Ya know, because that's what this place needs, more crap like that…"

"I'm sorry," Heero said quietly, in reference to everything. Duo sighed and let his hand drop from his shoulder. Heero frowned and found himself wishing he hadn't let go.

"Yeah, well, nothing I can do to change all that. Thanks for gettin' me out of there. If I didn't leave soon I was gonna throw a chair at her," the American said with a faint smile. "Our contact still hasn't called or sent me a message, so I guess we've got the whole day to kill. I need a break. Let's go get some ice cream or something, huh?"

Heero shrugged. He wasn't sure that ice cream was a good choice considering the temperature of the colony was nearly 40 degrees fahrenheit, but he didn't want to deflate the sudden surge of positivity the other pilot had managed to gather.

Twenty minutes later Heero was standing outside of an ice cream shop holding a vanilla ice cream cone and watching Duo messily destroy his bourbon maple bacon* cone.

"I can't believe you just wanted vanilla. They've got 34 other flavors!" Duo was saying between licks. Heero sighed and looked down at his untouched ice cream. He hadn't had anything like this in a long time. The last time he could recall he and Odin had eaten some, but it was only to pass the time before their target had come into range. He had gotten vanilla then, too.

"I've been thinking…" Duo said before nibbling the corner of his cone.

"Don't hurt yourself," Heero blurted automatically before taking a slow lick of his creamy cone. He saw Duo's eyes dart up to stare at him wide-eyed from over his own ice cream.

"Huh? Well, at least we know your shitty jokes are still in that brain of yours," Duo said with a radiant grin. Heero huffed and busied himself with his frozen treat. He felt strangely happy that he had made Duo smile. "Anyway, like I was sayin', I'm thinking about asking around to see if we can find our contact. Or at least learn more about her. Professor G told me she goes by "Swan". I'm thinking of asking around about her in the Underground."

Heero raised an eyebrow at the mention of an "Underground", and wondered how this colony could get any seedier.

After they ate Duo led him down the street and to a central square with a blocked metro stop. It seemed as if the colony used to have a subway system, but it appeared to have long since closed. A chain link fence had been stretched across the old entry to the subway system. Duo grabbed the bottom corner of the fence and peeled it back. It bent easily, and Heero could see the worn, graffiti-covered steps beyond it. He gave Duo a questioning gaze before ducking through it.

"They closed the subway years ago. Not enough money for infrastructure to keep it up. The cops know people come down here, but they had to put a fence up as a deterrent anyway. Basically once you pass through the fence you're on your own and out of CPD jurisdiction," Duo was explaining as he hopped casually down the steps beside him with his hands in his pockets. The stairway was dark, with only the occasional flickering lights glowing on every other fixture. Heero could hear voices up ahead and as they neared them two young men in black hooded sweatshirts materialized from the darkness and stepped in front of them. He tensed and automatically crouched in a fighting stance, prepared to defend himself, when Duo reached out to grasp his shoulder reassuringly.

"Yo! I gotta see Miles," Duo said casually as the hooded figures loomed over them.

"What you need see him for?" Came a low, grumbling reply. Heero peered at the shadowed faces of the hooded figures but he couldn't make out their features.

"I've got some questions, and I think he's got the answers," Duo said plainly, his handsome face never once showing a sign of trepidation.

The figure on the left snorted, but the one on the right leaned in closer as if to inspect Duo's face.

"Maxwell?" It finally said, its tone light and questioning. Heero saw the figure on the right pull his hood off to reveal the man beneath. "Is that you?"

Heero saw Duo's eyes illuminate with recognition. "Holy shit, Paul!"

The figure on the right, now revealed to be a young man about the same age as the American pilot, jumped forward and reached out to grab Duo's arm. They exchanged a half-hug and shook hands with happy chuckles and bright smiles.

"Dude, look at you! I hardly recognized you without the hair, man." Paul said happily as he grabbed Duo's shoulders and held him at arm's length to inspect him. Duo reached up to liberate his braid from it's hiding spot within the back of his hooded jacket and let it flop over his shoulder. Paul laughed at the sight of it. "Still not cuttin' the thing. I shoulda known."

"What can I say? The hair is a panty dropper," Duo said with a smirk. He looked over at Heero before gesturing to him. "This is my wingman, Heero."

Paul was much taller than them, but considerably skinnier. Heero felt a weakness in his hand as they shook in greeting. The other young man's face was gaunt, his dark brown skin pulled tightly over his high cheekbones. His eyes were bloodshot and he smelled faintly musty. The figure beside him slipped off his hood to reveal a dark-skinned man who eyed Duo closely, evidently not as familiar with him.

"Paul and I used to run these streets when we were… I dunno, how old were we? Six? Seven?" Duo explained as he grinned from ear to ear. Paul shrugged and laughed.

"Man, those were the days," the other young man replied. He gestured at Duo and gave Heero a knowing smile. "This guy right here was crazy. To this day nobody else can hot wire a car like this kid could. Punched out a cop once, too. He used to be the ringleader before the church put that collar on him. Speakin' of the church, did you see what they did to the monument? We had a protest for a week after that shit, man."

Duo nodded and crossed his arms over his chest tightly at the mention of the Maxwell Church. "Yeah, I just got back from talking to that stuck up council lady about it. They're not going to change it. This place is turning into a fucking shit hole. Well… worse than it already was," his partner grumbled. Paul sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, but what can ya do? Ya can't fight city hall."

"You're right. You can't fight it, but you _can_ fucking blow it up," Duo said darkly, causing his old friend to cackle with delight.

"Man, you're still fucking nuts."

"Yep. I'm batshit crazy. Nothing has changed," Duo said with a laugh. To Heero's surprise he had reached out to rest his hand on his shoulder again. He sighed and couldn't help but feel content that he wasn't being forgotten. "So is Miles still around? I got some stuff I need to talk to him about."

"Yeah, sure! Oh man, he's gonna love seeing you. You were always his favorite," Paul said cheerfully as he turned on his ratty sneakers and began leading them deeper into the tunnel system.

Heero stifled a cough as he stepped through a cloud of skunky smoke and onto an open platform where a small crowd of teenagers and young adults were gathered in a tight circle. A bouncing, thin pale teenager was standing in the center of the crowd speaking fast and loudly into the face of another young man while the people around them cheered and hissed in response to his words. He felt Duo's hand remain firmly on his shoulder as they walked across the platform and past the crowd toward an inactive, dusty subway train.

"Wow, kids still battle here?" Duo asked Paul casually as they passed the throng of teens. Paul grinned and gestured to the rowdy group.

"Hell yeah they do. Nobody is as creative or fast as we used to be when we owned it."

"... battle?" Heero questioned as they stopped just beside the yelling and chaotic crowd. Duo glanced over at him and grinned.

"Yeah, rap battle. Basically throwing 'yo momma' jokes around and building street cred. Us poor kids had nothing else to do, really." He explained. Heero had no idea what Duo meant by a "rap battle" but he could definitely imagine the spirited American pilot jumping around and yelling like these kids were.

"Aye, Paul! Who is that pair of fags you got over there?" A taunting voice came from the center of the mass of kids. Heero narrowed his eyes as the thin youth who had been in the center of the circle pushed through the crowd and approached them. He saw Paul frown. Duo smiled and kept his hand firmly on Heero's shoulder. He could see his violet eyes shimmering brightly in the dim light.

"Show some respect, this is Duo Maxwell you pleb," Paul said angrily as the teen approached. Heero saw the kid look Duo over once before rolling his eyes.

"This fairy fucking fool? Gimme a break. Duo Maxwell was a legend, this sissy ass femboy ain't him." Heero watched as the Duo broke away from them to close the distance between him and the teenager.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Evan. And I spit acid. You Duo Maxwell? Prove it."

"Well, shit." Heero heard Paul mumble beside him. Heero waited for something else to happen. He was expecting Duo to throw the kid to the ground and put him in his place, but he was surprised to see his partner chuckle and walk closer to the half circle of kids waiting expectantly on the platform.

Evan followed him and once they had both reached the center of the circle he lunged for Duo and leaned into his face, standing toe-to-toe with him. Heero felt his hands ball into fists reflexively and willed himself to stay where he was. He felt compelled to protect his friend, but he knew that the American pilot could hold his own. It was clear to see that this was his world, and he appeared very comfortable in it. He watched as Duo loosely crossed his arms over his chest and watched with a calm, smug expression while the teenager began streaming staggering words into his face.

"I rap like its a bad habit,  
and if rap is crack then consider me a crack addict.  
Look at this gay ass scrub right here.  
Dude is a chick? Nah, he's just a queer.  
You didn't come out of the closet,  
You come out of the attic.  
I'll take that pretty boy face  
Fuck it two ways from Sunday.  
Twist ya like a puzzle,  
Make you my fun bae.  
Got hair like a barbie,  
Fun stylin play? Hardly.  
I'm just playing,  
I hope you ain't getting offended by what I'm saying man,  
Cuz I'm just playing man, or do I speak the truth?  
You Duo Maxwell?  
Gimme some proof.  
I need is a microphone  
I don't need a booth.  
King Kong of this rap shit, I'll tear off the roof  
So step your ass off girly boy boo,  
Ya better learn fast cuz I rep L2…"

The crowd around them erupted into jeers and "oooohs" as the teenager stepped back from Duo's face to bask in his approval. His partner remained still, waiting for the din to subside. Finally he dropped his hands to his sides and his face transformed into a humored, taunting expression. He began speaking quickly, much faster than Heero had heard him talk before. His words flowed smoothly from his mouth and battered the kid who had challenged him. He appeared completely in his element.

"How old are you? Twelve?  
'Look at this baby ass with his baby tats.  
You buy your guns at Baby Gap.  
When you throw punches,  
they feel like baby daps.'*^"

The circle around them began laughing and jumping with excitement as Duo's teenage opponent scowled at him.

"Fast track? Pull back,  
Cuz like your balls, ya can't drop attacks.  
Infiltrating, lock on target cuz  
Now, all your base are belong to me.**

Look at this dude,  
He's gonna be trippin' forever  
Falling with Alice,  
White Rabbits, my pleasure."

Duo had leaned in close to the kid's face. The crowd of teens around them were cheering and jostling each other. Duo's steady stream of attack never stopped. He didn't appear to be pausing to think or formulate his words.

"You jockin'*** my hair?  
Two by one is always two,^*  
Can't do the math? That's your err.  
Wanna throw down, bring your hoe down cuz I know  
where she'll wanna put my girlyboy face…  
Meanwhile ya better keep a lookout for Barney,  
Catching you in the alley sucking Fife.^^*

Better learn the sign of the cross,  
Cuz here's my dark god,  
Stepping from the black void,  
Makin' you his sacrifice,  
Lickin' your soul will suffice  
Feastin' on your body,  
Tastes like people? Yeah, it's Soylent Green.^^

Had enough? Naw, ya can't go yet  
Cue my battle theme  
BIG Boss creepin', final level.  
Hold L1, R1: you can't flee.^^^  
Prep your powers, ya lost the fight  
Snuffed out your dyin' flame,  
Play the cutscene,  
end of game."

"FUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKK!" "OOOOOOOHHHH BROOOOOO!"

Duo took a step back away from his defeated challenger and crossed his arms again as the crowd around him lost their minds. The kid dropped to his knees and pretended to worship him with enthusiastic bows. Duo grinned and reached down to help the kid up to his feet and exchanged a friendly handshake and a back slap with him.

Heero relaxed and crossed his own arms over his chest, shook his head and had resigned himself to the fact that he was never going to understand people from L2.

* * *

 **Notes:**

Footnotes:

* Bootleg Creamery, Berkley, CA. (Sadly now closed. For the record not my kind of flavor…)

*^ "Look at this baby ass with his baby tats. You buy your guns at Baby Gap. When you throw punches, they feel like baby daps." - Direct quote by rap battle master Dumbfounded.

^* 2x1x2

** "All Your Base Are Belong To Me" is a play off of "Are Your Base Are Belong To Us", a broken English ("Engrish") phrase found in the opening cutscene of the 1992 European release of the Mega Drive port of the 1989 arcade video game Zero Wing which became a popular Internet meme.

*** Jockin' (Verb ) Inflected forms: Jocking, Jockin. 1. (a) The act of obsessing over another with intense affection. (b) Attempting to woo with the hopes of romance. 2. (a) To copy the likeness of and/or follow intently. (b) To be sought after. - Urban Dictionary

^^* A Barney is a slang word for the cops. Fife is a type of woodwind instrument. "Barney Fife" is a fictional character in the American television program The Andy Griffith Show. A deputy sheriff.

^^ Soylent Green: 1973 American science fiction thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Charlton film combines the police procedural and science fiction genres, depicting the investigation into the murder of a wealthy businessman in a dystopian future suffering from pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, poverty, dying oceans, and year-round humidity due to the greenhouse effect. Much of the population survives on processed food rations, including "soylent green". Turns out that soylent green is made of people.

^^^ L1 + R1 = FLEE. In old Final Fantasy games (and other turn based RPG games) if you hold the L1 and R1 triggers at the same time your character can sometimes flee from a battle.


	16. Chapter 16

Duo hadn't expected anyone from his past to still be in the Underground. L2 was a place people tried to escape, and most of the people he had known from his childhood had moved on to do bigger and better things. At least he hoped that they had. When he saw his old friend Paul playing sentry at the entrance he knew that Miles was definitely still around. Those two were inseparable. It had been that way for as long as Duo could remember.

Everything in the Underground was relatively unchanged. The graffiti had evolved into more grandiose and complex tags and designs but ultimately the layout was just as he had remembered it. The old subway cars were still lined up beside the platform, leaning slightly on their deactivated tracks.

After schooling one of the young bucks on takedowns he fell back into step with Paul who was grinning at him, impressed.

"You've still got it," his old friend said with a grin. Duo shrugged and tossed his hair over his shoulder to let it rest in its usual spot against his back.

"Yeah, I guess. Not a particularly useful life skill, though," he said casually. He glanced over at Heero who was walking beside him with his usual placid, flat expression. He smiled and playfully knocked his shoulder into the former Wing and pretended to try and shove him off of the platform. Heero wobbled for a fraction of a second as he lost his balance but quickly regained it and shot him an icy glare.

"Didn't know your best pal was a rap god, did ya?" Duo teased as he watched Heero's face revert back to default. He saw him shrug his shoulder and shake his head.

"Too bad you're not as good at space battle as you are at rap battles," Heero replied. Duo watched his partner's eyes widen at his own words, as if he had no idea who had put them in his mouth. Duo's elation filled his chest at Heero's insult.

"Dude! You're remembering shit!" He exclaimed happily as he stopped in his tracks and grabbed Heero by both shoulders and shook him with excitement. "What battle do you remember?"

He watched as Heero's eyes narrowed and his face contorted. The former Wing pilot shrugged his hands from his shoulders and shook his head. "I don't remember any battles. I don't know where that came from."

"Well, if it takes you slingin' zingers at me to get your brain back, I'm your willing target!" He exclaimed brightly. He saw his childhood friend shifting his weight nearby, evidently confused. "He took a bad hit to the head when we were playin' baseball, right Heero? Lost some of his memories," Duo explained it away quickly. He saw Paul nod his head as he accepted his explanation. "Dude can't take a hit."

"Neither can you," Heero replied coolly.

Duo laughed and slipped his arm around Heero's shoulders. He could feel his partner shrink a little at his touch but then settle against the underside of his arm.

He's remembering shit now. It was a good idea to bring him after all, Duo thought happily as they followed Paul's lead deeper into the subway system. After Heero's weird behavior the night before and his sudden headache at City Hall he had worried that dragging Heero along on this mission had been a mistake. Now that he seemed to be improving he felt justified in his decision.

Paul had led them across a dark, narrow walkway a good distance from the main platform. Duo remembered the walkway well and knew that Paul was taking them directly to The Mansion.

The dank, grungy walkway eventually spilled out into a cavernous room filled with tents, cots and stacks of pallets assembled to create makeshift bunk beds, couches and lofts. Various personal items littered every available open space. Candlesticks, lamps, camping lanterns and portable fire pits lit the open space, casting orange-red light across the eclectic collection of artwork and personal effects. Duo could see stolen department store mannequins assembled nearby in various lewd sexual positions. Curtains and blankets of various colors had been draped and hung to signify separate individual's spaces.

The Mansion looked much the same as it had when he had resided there as a kid. He could see that it was still densely inhabited. A few residents had poked their heads from their designated spaces to watch them curiously as they entered. Duo didn't recognize any of them.

"Let me see if he's in," Paul said as he ducked away from them and through a pair of sparkling purple curtains. Duo stopped and waited, Heero still safely tucked under his arm. He glanced over at the former Wing pilot. His dark, cobalt eyes were scanning their new surroundings intently.

 _Probably assessing the threat_ , Duo thought with amusement. He squeezed his friend's shoulders tightly and smiled at him.

"They're homeless people, not zombies…" he attempted to reassure him.

"You lived here?" Heero asked, his voice hinted that he was surprise. Duo nodded and gestured to an upper level made of pallets and old doors.

"Yeah, I was a Mowgli of the Urban Jungle. My room was up there with my pal Solo," he said faintly as he pointed out an upper loft strung with christmas lights and paper airplanes. He felt Heero tense. He had forgotten that his partner couldn't remember anything he had told him about his past. He had confided a few things to him before while on stakeout or floating in space waiting for their next battle. Duo normally didn't like to dwell on it and he hardly ever shared any details with anyone. Heero had been the only person he had ever told, and now he was sharing it with him once again.

"I only lived up there for maybe six months tops before I went to stay at the church. The colony kept catching me and putting me in foster care," he confided. "Not all of those places were bad. Had a couple of nice foster parents, too."

He detected some movement from the purple curtains Paul had vanished through. He watched as his old friend slipped out with a sigh and gave them an apologetic look. "He's in the middle of a vision," he explained plainly. "You're gonna have to wait a little while. He can't talk when he's singing to the skull."

Duo saw Heero raise an eyebrow at that. "That's fine, I can wait. Can I have a look around?" Duo asked.

"Yeah, sure. Of course. Your old room is empty right now, you can go up there if you want to." Paul said as he gestured to a makeshift staircase made of old crates and black-painted pallets. Duo nodded and urged Heero toward it with his arm. He could see his partner's hesitation play across his stoic face.

"You don't have to go up with me if you're too scared," Duo chided with a grin, watching as Heero's shoulders stiffened at the challenge.

"I'm not scared," Heero said slowly, his voice even. "I am concerned about the integrity of that structure." Duo couldn't help but laugh at him, causing the Japanese man's scowl to deepen.

"It's fine, that thing has been standing like that since I was a kid. It isn't gonna go anywhere. Come on." He unfurled his arm from Heero's shoulders and made his way carefully up the stairs. He used his lightest steps to scale it. He had always attributed his stealth and climbing abilities to living in The Mansion. He had plenty of practice scaling questionable structures. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Heero had been following him, though at a much slower pace. His partner was assessing every step as if it would open up at any second to plunge him into the depths of hell. Duo smirked and paused on the top landing to wait for him.

 _He's so fucking adorable,_ he thought with amusement as Heero inched his way carefully toward him. He extended his hand to offer assistance but his partner had refused it and hopped onto the landing himself.

The top level had been split into quarters by thick colored curtains. A small path had been left open down the center of the partitions to create a narrow hall that led to the back. Duo saw that the first two curtains were closed, but the last two had been thrown open and appeared to be empty. He inched his way down the part in the center, marveling at how small the landing actually was. He remembered it being much larger but assumed it only appeared that way because he had been tiny at the time he resided there. He stepped into the right of the two open quarters. It was only about eight feet square and currently uninhabited. Duo saw that the worn wooden planks that served as a floor were bare and appeared to be the same as when he had once lived there. He slid inside and knelt in the far corner and saw that the faint, crooked "Duo" he had once carved into the light grainy wood was still there. He let his fingertips trace the angular letters and smiled.

"Wow, I can't believe this is still here." Duo said quietly so as not to disturb any of the nearby residents. "This has to be more than fourteen years old."

He saw Heero standing silently just outside the draped opening of the thick, dingy blue curtains that enclosed the small space. He waved him over and pat the smooth wood beside him. "Come on in and pull up a chair."

Heero walked cautiously into the room and obediently sat where Duo had indicated. He saw him scanning the small space, his dark eyes illuminated by the twinkling white Christmas lights strewn across the ceiling.

"I used to pretend that this was my skylight," Duo explained as he flopped onto his back and propped his head up on his hands. He sighed and smiled up at the blinking lights, recalling the hours he had done this very thing as a kid. "I used to always wish for a window in my room. This was the closest thing I ever got. See right here?" He gestured to a small cluster of lights in the far right corner of the curtained ceiling. A handful of the bulbs had long since burnt out. "I used to imagine that this was Perseus, and that the dark spot right there under his arm was the head of Medusa. And over there…" he let his fingers trace the string of lights to the opposite side. "That's Andromeda over there. Perseus was on his way to save her from the sea monster, Cetus. He never did make it over there, though…"

He sighed and turned to look at Heero, who was staring down at him. He felt oddly uncomfortable under his gaze and immediately decided to try and lighten the mood.

"Ya can't see the constellations if you're sitting like that. Lie down," Duo instructed him. He heard Heero sigh deeply before lying back to stare up at the lights.

"I can't believe you can rap," Heero finally said, breaking the heavy and tense silence that had descended upon them. Duo chuckled and bent his leg to rest his left ankle against the top of his right knee.

"Well, there's a lot you don't know," Duo said with a smile. He felt Heero shift beside him. He could smell the pungent scent of marijuana seeping up through the cracks in the wood from the unit below them. Nearby the heavy throb of dance music echoed against the thick cement walls, the bass music vibrating the plank of wood against their backs. "But I never told you about that before, so you know something the other you doesn't."

"I want to remember," Heero's voice sounded small and unsure, a far cry from his usual poised tone. Duo tilted his head to look at him.

"Well, what do you want to know?" He asked as he studied the profile of Heero's face. He could see his friend frown into the darkness. A long moment of silence ticked by before the former Wing pilot replied.

"I want to know what you were to me."

Duo felt his chest tighten as if a sumo wrestler had sat on it. Heero was asking just the right question, but he didn't know if he should give him the honest answer. They had been getting along fine without him knowing.

 _What if he doesn't feel the same way now? What if he finds me disgusting? What if telling him turns him off to me, and makes things weird between us?_ His mind began to race with all of the possibilities and outcomes that telling Heero they were lovers would cause. He took a deep breath and turned away to study the blinking lights shining above them.

"What do you think I was? I mean… we were best friends," Duo tested the waters carefully, keeping his voice casual.

"I feel like there was more to it," the Japanese man divulged. "Am I wrong?"

 _Shit…_ Duo frowned. He wondered if he had been too touchy-feely with him. Maybe that was what gave him that impression. Either way Heero had figured something was up, and he couldn't keep it from him any longer. Eventually his friend was going to find out anyway. Why not here in this disgusting hell hole of L2?

"No. You're not wrong. It's hard to explain. It's actually really fucking complicated now that I think about it," Duo mumbled. He let his arms slide from the back of his head and crossed them over his chest tightly in an attempt to keep his heart from throbbing out through his rib cage. "I told you I shot you when we first met, right? When I first met you… I dunno… I thought you were nuts. You're still kinda nuts."

He heard Heero snort under his breath but there was no other reply. Duo sighed and watched as the Christmas lights dimmed and flickered, dotting the dark canvas of the blue curtain above them. Normally he had no trouble expressing his feelings, but lying here in this place he felt suddenly at a loss for words. He inhaled deeply and blew the breath out through half-pursed lips, attempting to let loose some of his anxiety.

"It started with me and you working together. I think we met by accident, but then after that our missions began to sync. A lot of missions came in that involved both of us cooperating. I don't think you liked me at first. I think you just used me… ya know… because back then, all you cared about was the mission. You were super focused on that, but it didn't bother me. I was just glad to have met you."

He paused and glanced over to check his partner's response. He could see Heero looking up at the fake constellation of Perseus, his cobalt eyes narrowed as if in considering his words.

"So… yeah. Then something changed and things got kinda tense and uncomfortable between us. Some stuff happened, and it just became a regular thing. You were still all about Relena though. I think we needed each other… ya know… like that… Jesus, this is so fucking weird." Duo reached a hand up to rub his face in an attempt to wipe away his embarrassment. He could hear Heero breathing lightly beside him.

"How long were we lovers?" The former Wing pilot asked flatly. Duo blinked and grit his teeth. It was just like the guy to get straight to the point.

"Off an on during Operation Meteor and throughout the Eve War," he explained honestly. "And then we stopped doing that stuff while we were working with Preventer, because you and Relena got serious and I hooked up with Hilde for a while." He reached down to grab the tip of his braid and began reflexively rolling it frantically between his forefinger and thumb. He could see Heero watching him out of the corner of his eye.

"That was it?" Heero asked. Duo shook his head.

"No. You and Relena mutually broke up because you were going into cryo, and we got back together right before you went under. I waited for you to come out, and after a year you did we started … I guess ...like an official relationship? So, yeah. You can imagine how surprised I was to have you kick me in the chest."

Heero rolled onto his side to face him. The other pilot had propped his head on an elbow and was staring at him with an intense, narrowed gaze.. "Why didn't you just tell me?" Heero's voice was stern.

"I don't know. I guess I just didn't want things to be any weirder than they already were," Duo replied candidly. He could feel Heero's eyes boring into the side of his face. He turned away from him, afraid to see the result of his revelation. "How was that conversation gonna start, huh? Hey, dude, I know you just broke my spine but I used to be your boyfriend. Wanna fuck?"

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. He was beginning to feel lightheaded and immediately attributed it to the heavy fog of secondhand smoke wafting up from the room below. He could hear its occupant's raucous laughter and garbled voice through the plank against his back.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Duo added before turning his face back toward the Japanese man to gauge his response. To his surprise Heero had moved incredibly close to him, and appeared to be only a few centimeters away. Duo involuntarily startled at his sudden closeness, having not heard him move. "What the hell, are you a fucking ninja now?"

"I'm sorry I kicked you," Heero whispered. "And I'm sorry I can't remember you. I want to remember you." Duo felt a hand slipping up the side of his body. Within moments Heero had grasped his chin and was forcing his face to tilt towards him. "Make me remember you."

That was all the invitation Duo needed. He rolled over to fill the gap between them with his body. Heero had guided his lips to meet his own. Duo felt the familiar cool hardness of Heero's mouth as it completed his previously incomplete circuit of desire. A current of raw, hot energy coursed through body and begged him to deepen his kiss with his partner. He let his tongue probe Heero's lower lip, seeking entry. The former Wing pilot seemed to hesitate as if unsure what to do. That was when a light bulb went off in Duo's mind, nearly blinding him with the reality of the situation.

 _This is is young Heero. He's still a virgin._

Duo felt like an enormous pervert for being turned on by the idea of being able to corrupt Heero Yuy a second time. He lapped his tongue against Heero's lower lip again before nipping the corner of his mouth playfully.

"Open your mouth…" he whispered against his partner's lips. The other pilot immediately complied. Duo chuckled and dove into him again, slipping his tongue into the Heero's mouth and tasting his tangy, coppery tongue with his own. He noticed that his hands were floating aimlessly across his body. He grasped his partner's wrist and forced his hand against his own chest before instructing his index finger to stroke his favorite nipple through the top of his black sweatshirt. The former Wing pilot obeyed the command and then enhanced it by retreating his hand down to the bottom of Duo's sweatshirt and snaking up to make contact with his nipple without the barrier of clothing. Everything in Duo's body grew hard in response.

He rocked lightly against the body he had been denied for nearly a month and felt his frustration multiply exponentially as Heero rocked back.

That was all it took. Duo interpreted Heero's reciprocated hip thrust as permission to fuck. His hands shot down like lighning to begin unbuttoning Heero's pants. He glanced up at his partner to check and make sure he wasn't going to get decked in the nose, but saw that the Japanese man was staring down at him with the purest half-lidded lust Duo had ever seen. He fumbled with his zipper and was just about to yank his slacks down over his legs when a voice boomed across the cavern.

"DUO MAXWELL! Where the hell are you? Time for you to meet your maker, son!"

Duo flinched at the voice calling his name and dropped his hands from Heero's crotch and groaned loudly. "Noooooo. NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOOO!" He moaned in agony as he forced himself to lie back against the wooden floor. He could feel his disappointed erection making a reluctant retreat.

"I hear you up there! Put your cock away and come down here. I haven't got all day."

"Shit. Shit, fuck, shit…" Duo grumbled. He sat up and looked over to see Heero slowly fastening his pants, his face flushed. He grabbed his partner's shoulders and kissed him. "Later. I promise…"

Heero nodded and stood up mutely. Duo hissed with annoyance and hopped to his feet and made his way out of the makeshift room and down the rickety stairs, cursing every god he knew by name. Waiting for him at the bottom was someone he had no trouble recognizing.

Miles Ashcroft had only been deputy leader of their little Underground when he had first come to live there, but now it was clear that he ran the entire operation. He was much older now, nearly fifty years old, and if Duo had not spotted his trademark triangle goatee and his giant, plugged ears he would have never recognized him. He was short and getting round in the belly, but he still had the same handsome jawline and smouldering gaze that had made him so likeable by everyone of every sex. A particularly androgynous attaché was standing beside him with his/her arm hooked gently through the older man's. Duo grinned as he stepped down the stairs. It was just like old times. Miles always had arm candy everywhere he went.

"Holy shit, look at this guy here. Man, who'da thought you would turn into such a looker?" Miles said proudly. Duo shrugged and as he got to the bottom step and reached out to shake his hand in greeting. Miles scoffed and instead of taking the proffered hand he shook his attaché from his arm and grabbed Duo into a rough bear hug. "Oh hell no, you ain't coming in here with that proper ass shit. Gimme a fucking hug."

Duo grunted as he was squeezed before chuckling and hugging the old guy back. "Long time no see, huh?"

"Right? The last time I saw you, you'd just got back from somewhere or another. Where were you? The spaceport or something? How old were you then?"

"Sixteen," Duo answered as he pulled away from the older man. He could see Heero working his way carefully down the pallet steps behind him. He saw Miles's brown-red eyes lock onto his partner as he approached them.

"Well now, who's this guy?"

"This is my friend, Heero." Duo explained as Heero padded up to stand beside him. He watched as Heero crossed his arms over his chest and locked eyes with Miles.

"Boyfriend," Heero corrected him with his usual flat affect.

"My boyfriend," Duo said with a grin. _I stand corrected._


	17. Chapter 17

Ch 17

For the majority of Heero's training in preparation for Operation Meteor he had been instructed not to act on his emotions. The mission had come first, and there was no room for pointless angst on the battlefield. It served as nothing but a distraction and at the end of the day you would accomplish nothing by wallowing in personal reflection. He had made the mistake of dwelling on his emotions once, and the result had been a quick brainwashing and a thorough retraining sequence.

Everything he had been trained to do was in support of the original Operation Meteor. When he was set to descend upon the planet to prepare for the colony drop Dr. J had intervened and gave him a new mission. He was to follow his emotions and use Wing Gundam to achieve the goals he felt were right for the people of Earth and the Colonies.

It was one of the last things he could remember. Finally he was free to feel and do whatever he felt was right.

So when Duo Maxwell verified his suspicions that there had been more between them besides a simple battle camaraderie or platonic friendship he had followed his feelings and kissed him. His body had reacted positively to Duo. When the American had drawn closer Heero had felt the very cells of his body began to oscillate with sexual energy. Like in his dream from the night before his partner had attempted to escalate the situation but was thwarted by a summons from the creepy Underground mob boss.

Heero narrowed his eyes on the man as he waited impatiently behind Duo, who was seated cross-legged on a thick, red cushion in front of him. The man who had introduced himself as Miles Ashcroft was what Heero could only describe as the embodiment of sin. Heero didn't like him, and he that suspected the man knew it.

"Swan? What kind of business do you have with her, I wonder?" Miles was saying in a slow, slurring voice. It was clear to Heero that the man was still experiencing the side effects of whatever narcotic he had taken upon their arrival. His head was bobbing and weaving oddly as he spoke and his eyes were red rimmed and watering. Heero shifted uncomfortably on the dark orange cushion he had been instructed to sit on and waited for the exchange to be over with.

Duo appeared not to notice or even care that the man he was fishing for intel was strung out. He was handling the exchange with ease.

"Super top secret stuff," Duo replied cheerfully. Heero could see his that his happy mask was securely fixed in place. "She was supposed to contact me this morning but I haven't heard anything. You know where I can find her?"

Miles shifted his considerable weight against the pile of cushions and pillows that formed his personal throne. Beside lounged a person Heero was unable to determine the sex of. This person was smoking a sweet scented vapor from a small box in his/her hand. The thick, syrupy smoke hung thick in the air, trapped by the dark purple curtains and blankets that formed the leader's makeshift hut. Two LED camping lanterns had been placed on either side of the throne. Heero squinted against the white light and vapor and saw that the false king was studying him through the haze.

"What have you been up to these days? My eyes on the street haven't seen you on L2 in a while, hm?" Miles asked, obviously changing the subject. Heero saw movement come from the darkest corner of the hut. The young man named Paul who had assisted them earlier was seated on the floor beside a candle, heating something over its flame in a metal spoon.

"Eh, little bit of this and a little bit of that. You know me, I am a jack of all trades but a master of none." The American said quickly. "That's why I gotta find this chick. I need something from her, and if I don't do this job right, I gotta answer to my boss."

Heero raised an eyebrow at his partner's back and sighed. Duo was quick witted and his ability to turn the conversation around was just as impressive as the slurry of insult he had flung at the teenager during his rap battle an hour earlier. Heero was learning quickly that despite the happy, joking exterior of his companion there was an undeniable intelligence there. Duo was just exceptionally good at covering it up and playing the fool. Heero had learned from observing him that people tended to underestimate Duo Maxwell, whether it be because of his smile and smaller stature or his amiable personality. However, he was beginning to see that of all of the other pilots that he had met so far, the American was the most unpredictable and therefore the most dangerous.

He had also decided that that fact was incredibly attractive. He crossed his arms over his chest tightly and let his mind replay the kiss they had exchanged "upstairs". Duo's mouth was warmer than he could have imagined, and his sweet almond scent still lingered on his lips. He could smell it faintly through the fog in the room. He tore his eyes away from Miles Ashcroft and found himself tracing the sharp angled lines of Duo's crossed legs and narrow hips. His partner's long, thick coil of hair was dangling just out of reach. He decided that the next time they were alone he was going to to finally touch it.

"Who is your boss now, huh? You know, I heard you did pretty well on the platform earlier. You could be your own boss here if you're looking for a more lucrative opportunity. I need more people like you under me..." The older man said in a low, suggestive voice. Heero didn't much care for his tone. He let his eyes part from studying Duo's back to shooting warning glares at the man seated in front of them. Duo appeared unperturbed by the offer or the innuendo attached to it.

"As much as I'm flattered by that offer, I must respectfully decline. This stuff isn't for me anymore. I don't think I am cut out to play the Artful Dodger* anymore." His partner said smoothly. Miles shrugged and had reached over to grasp the back of his androgynous companion's neck and pulled his/her body closer to himself. As he did his eyes shifted from Duo to rest on Heero. His pupils were wide and the reddish hue of his irises made Heero feel as if he were being sized up by an otherworldly creature. He felt the man's eyes drag across his body. He steeled himself against the sensation and forced his coolest expression.

"What an interesting little friend you have here, Duo. I have never seen anyone so angry looking before. Maybe we should give him something to make him lighten up a little, hm?" Miles said darkly down to his companion.

"He's fucking gorgeous, isn't he?" Heero heard Duo say playfully. He saw the American gesture in his direction with a casual hand. "No candy for him though, he's been bad today."

"Oh hohohoho! Well then, how about a piece for you? For old time's sake?" Miles said with an enormous grin. He nudged his lithe, sexless companion toward Duo. The individual slipped off of the mountain of cushions and reached out to hand the American pilot something. Heero saw Duo take it in hand and nod gratefully.

"I haven't seen these in a long time," Duo said softly as he inspected the item on his palm. Heero could see a light blue pill nestled in the center of his hand. Duo eyed it before he put it to his lips and swallowed. Miles had been watching him closely and upon seeing him take the pill he chuckled and appeared to relax, apparently pleased with Duo's trust.

"We still have our own little factory here in the Underground. In fact, your Miss Swan is a regular customer of ours. She was just here three days ago to pick up a shipment. Big customer. You wouldn't believe who she works for…"

Duo appeared to sway slightly on his cushion. "Oh yeah? Who'd that be?"

"The ESUN Earth-Sphere protection force," Miles said grandly. "Amazing, I know. They are using some of our product for a new training program. Super hush-hush, and I don't know all the details. I don't care about the details, I just care about payment. And trust me, they pay well. Like I said, you could be a very rich man if you'd just come and work for me…"

Heero watched in shock as Duo's face tilted down to stare at the floor and his posture slackened. He attempted to get up from his own seat to help him when Miles coughed and began to laugh loudly.

"Calm down, little boy. He's fine. He's just making a few deals with the Devil is all."

"What did you give him?" Heero said icily as he watched Duo's eyes close and his hands tremble. The movement was disturbingly unnatural and the sight of it put Heero on edge.

"He knows all too well about talking to the skull," Miles said darkly, his greasy face brightening with a devious energy. "What he's doing is what your ESUN pals will be doing soon. Burning holes in their brain, but reaching a higher level of consciousness. That Miss Swan… she is quite the character."

"... Where… can… I find her…." Duo's voice sounded hoarse and dry. Heero saw his shoulders tense as if he were in pain. He couldn't stand watching it anymore and he quickly left his seat to get closer. He grabbed his partner's quivering shoulder and held it tightly in hand.

"Where you can find anyone of importance, in Quad 1. Works in the Free Trade building. Real name is Adelle Formic. Now… what is the skull telling you?"

"It's... " Heero saw Duo's face darken, and his eyes appeared to grow cloudy and distant. "It's tellin' me to obey…"

"Good-good. You will now obey my every command. First, I want you to show off your little boyfriend to me."

Heero didn't have a chance to react before Duo had reached out with a snap of his arm to grab him by the front of his shirt. He had pulled him down to the floor. He struggled to fight against him as they grappled and wrestled across the floor. Duo had managed to pin him face down for a moment and as he tried to counter he heard him whisper softly into his ear.

"Heero, trust me." Duo whispered as he held him down against the dirty floor. He almost couldn't believe he had said anything at all and was just beginning to wonder whether he had really heard it when his partner flipped him roughly onto his back and straddled him. He found his arms pinned roughly over his head and as Duo was leaning in close to his face he saw that his eyes were no longer clouded over. The American pilot gave him a wink before letting his face revert back to the distant detached expression it had before.

Heero stared up in shock at Duo's playacting and strained against his hold on his arms. It took a few moments for him to realize that Duo wasn't actually drugged, but he couldn't imagine why he was pretending to be.

"Very good. He's certainly a feisty one, isn't he? Hm…" Miles was panting down at them with an expression that made Heero's stomach churn. He looked up questioningly at his partner. Duo was staring down at him with aglazed, hollow expression. "You see, young man, the world is getting too moral around here. People are feeling too bad about things. We're all just disgusting, foul creatures at the end of it all. Sometimes to get things done people need a little motivation. The ESUN has figured that part out. The soldiers don't want to do something, fine. They'll just give them some candy to help them do the right thing. Your friend Duo here got a conscience a while back. He hasn't been much fun since. But now… well… hm. Duo, give your little friend some candy, yes?" Miles's oily voice commanded. His companion had detached from his side and approached them. Heero scowled up at him/her as it placed an identical pill to the one that his partner had taken on his chest. He watched wide eyed as Duo leaned down to take the pill from his chest and into his mouth.

"Let's have some fun, boys." The older man said gruffly. Duo's face suddenly dropped close to his. Heero flinched in anticipation for impact. Duo's face was millimeters from his own. The other pilot tilted his head and shifted his arm to to block the Underworld leader's view with his fringe of bangs and his bicep.

"Pretend like you're struggling," Duo whispered. Heero obeyed and pulled at his arms and kicked his legs as convincingly as he could while his partner grinned. "You take those two, I got the big guy," the former Deathscythe pilot's whisper was almost inaudible. He could see the two tiny light blue pills were secretly nestled in the center of his partner's tongue.

After a few moments Duo pulled away and stared down at Heero with a slack, empty expression. Heero glared up at him and then went as limp as he could. Miles began to laugh deviously.

"Perfect! Hm, okay… come here and let's talk a little, Maxwell's boy. Geo, go have fun with the other one, yes?"

Duo stood up and with the grace of a zombie walked over to the pillow throne. Heero saw Miles reach out to grab his partner by the hips and pull him roughly down onto his lap while his androgynous companion approached him. He waited until he/she attempted to straddle him before kicking whatever he/she had hidden between his/her legs. He rolled out of the way as the body over him doubled over and folded to the ground. He punched the back of the prone figure's head hard to ensure that he/she wouldn't be getting up anytime soon before hopping up to his feet.

"Fuck!"

He looked to the throne and saw that Duo was still clutched in Miles's hands, straddling his lap. He could see that the man now had a wad of his partner's spit with two half dissolved pills running through his right eye. He watched as Duo punched the man in the nose. The blow caused the boss to release his grasp of the American's hips just long enough for Duo to vault out of his lap.

"Don't move, motherfucker!" A strained voice filled the hut as Paul staggered out from the darkness with a handgun pointed at him. Heero smiled. Now this was what he was trained for.

* * *

* Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist. Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that respect. He is the leader of the gang of child criminals, trained by the elderly Fagin. -wiki

/AN: You guys are the best readers ever. Thanks for the reviews and the encouragement. I aim to please. Also, I do take requests. ;) Hope you guys have a fab weekend, ne?/


	18. Chapter 18

Ch 18

Duo was more than upset. He was absolutely fucking livid.

What had originally started as a casual meeting with old friends had somehow taken a wrong turn into freaky orgy town. It had taken every ounce of self-control in his body to keep from beating the shit out of the man he had once held in such high esteem. Miles was no longer the man he had remembered him to be, nor was he the man Duo had hoped he would become.

When he was only a child Miles and Paul had been two of his closest friends. Whenever anyone had threatened him as a little boy Miles was always the one to call them off. He had taught him how to fight, how to talk his way out of trouble and how to survive.

The warped, perverse Twilight Zone version that ruled the Underground was nothing like the younger man he had once known. The most upsetting part was that Miles had turned into the depraved dictator that he had lamented he would never be, only proving to Duo that power would could corrupt even the most honorable of people.

When Miles had given him an Eyeshine* pill he knew that the entire situation was going to end badly. Duo hadn't lied when he said that he hadn't seen those pills in a long time. The last time he had experienced the drug was when he was twelve years old, before he had left to train for Operation Meteor. Someone had handed him one and he had stupidly taken in without question. The effects were psychedelic, and by the time he had woken up he was half naked in an alleyway beaten black and blue. He had heard through the grapevine that the pills caused the subject who took them to be completely susceptible to outside influence. Duo considered them slave pills, and the fact that someone attached to the ESUN, and coincidentally their contact, was acquiring them was a serious problem.

He had walked into this situation looking for answers only to run out of it with an assload of questions.

"Don't move, motherfucker!" Duo heard Paul's voice rasping from somewhere behind him. He had just jumped back out of the older man's reach. Miles was glowering angrily at him through spit and blood from his nose.

"How dare you?" Miles roared as he swung his enormous fists at him. Duo sidestepped and ducked his furious swipes easily before scampering away from the man as he stumbled toward him and off of his pile of pillows. Duo stole a glance over his shoulder and saw Paul standing nearby with a gun pointed at Heero, who was staring down the barrel with an expression the former Deathscythe pilot hadn't seen the Japanese man wear in years.

 _Oh shit, now he's done it._ He thought desperately, feeling sorry for his old friend who clearly had no idea what was about to happen to him.

"You little son of a bitch," Miles was growling as he tripped over a round cushion. Duo saw him reach down to the floor and fish something out of his multicolor mountain. When the older man stood upright he held an 18-inch black baton clutched tightly in his hand. Duo recognized it right away as being a stun baton** similar to what the CPD SWAT team used against their citizens. Duo had never been hit with one before, but he had seen them in action and it wasn't pretty. The worst part about it was there was no way to block against it.

He ducked and wove his way back from the older man who was grunting and swatting at him angrily with the crackling baton. Despite his age and larger physique Miles was still quick on his feet and a formidable enemy. As Duo backed away from his attacks he looked around desperately for something to use as a weapon. Aside from drapery and the occasional cat skull strung with beads there was nothing he could use.

BOOM!

He flinched at the popping sound of a gun discharging and looked just in time to see Heero take down Paul in a blur of swinging limbs. Paul had taken shot at his partner but evidently missed. Within moments Heero had emerged from their struggle victorious and holding the weapon. Paul was lying facedown on the floor, unmoving.

Duo didn't see any blood and he hoped that Heero hadn't killed him.

Miles froze as he was suddenly standing on the receiving end of a pistol. Heero was running at him with the gun raised. Duo used the distraction of his incoming partner to kick Miles in the side and land a knock to his wrist to force him to drop the baton. Electricity arced and snapped as it clattered to the ground and slid under a small table. The older man buckled under the attack. He had straightened himself but then abruptly collapsed to the ground as Heero pummeled him with the stock of the pistol. Duo found himself staring down at the unconscious, limp form of his former friend who now sported a swollen hot knot on his temple.

"Shit, we gotta call the cops," he blurted. He reached for his phone but was interrupted by a stream of cracks echoing through the air. Bullets began raining down upon them as three Underground sentries entered the hut with guns blazing. Before Duo could react Heero had grabbed his arm and was dragging him through the curtains to make a speedy escape.

"Which way do we go?" Heero asked coolly, his voice surprisingly calm as they broke through the purple curtains and fell into a synchronized run. Duo looked around quickly and tried to get his bearings. As he did his head began to swim, and he found that if he turned too quickly the floor would shift beneath his feet. He felt like he was running on the surface of a waterbed. He swallowed hard and pointed to a small, shadowy opening in the far side of the cavern that he vaguely recalled led out of the subway system.

He heard the hiss of bullets whizzing past them as they ran for the opening in the wall. Blossoms of powdered cement burst open as the bullets pierced the wall in front of them. They tumbled through the narrow archway and out of the shower of attack. The black hallway gradually shrank down to allow only a single body to pass through at a time. As Duo groped down the inky path he lost sight of Heero, who had vanished into the darkness ahead of him. If his memory served him right the path would lead to the internal maze of maintenance tunnels that serviced the colony's utilities.

Duo could hear voices yelling from just behind him. In the same moment he felt his feet tangling together as the floor unexpectedly shifted upward. The darkness began to lighten and the walls started to glow faintly red. The hands he had been using to blindly guide against the wall abruptly plunged through its surface. He felt hands grabbing at his fingers from within. He fell to his knees and hit his face against the wall's now soft, fleshy surface. A high frequency ringing filled his ears. He tried to pull away but something had grabbed his wrist and was pulling him through the wall's gory, meaty surface. He felt hard arms encircle his shoulders. His face felt as if it was being smothered by something firm yet strangely organic.

"Quiet," a voice murmured into his ear. He knew that voice, didn't he? He tilted his face up to see its source and saw that he wasn't inside a flesh wall but being held against the chest of what appeared to be a cyborg angel. Enormous, metallic white angel wings hung high over the futuristic figure's head. They dropped down to envelope them, forming a protective glowing, feathery cocoon. Duo could hear voices speaking from just outside of the protective shell. He blinked and felt the metallic arms around his shoulders tighten, nearly crushing him. He peered into the face above his own and sighed at the visage that greeted him. It was Heero's face, glowing and peacefully radiant. One of his eyes was missing and had been replaced with a circular blue robotic lens similar to the kind Dr. J wore.

"Quiet," cyborg-Heero said again, this time in a synthetic voice; his one human eye was kind and uncharacteristically passive. He felt something hard against his back. He turned to look at it and realized that cyborg-Heero was holding the pistol he had taken from Paul. He watched as the pistol transformed into a miniature version of Deathscythe's beam scythe. Its viridescent green blade shimmered to life and began to hum with energy.

"Wait here," cyborg-Heero said. He released him and with a flourish had lifted off of the ground into the air on his metallic wings. With a blast of space wind*** he flew away into the distance. Duo looked around and saw that he was standing on a vast, black and empty plane. The sky and ground below him were the same velvety, inescapable blackness. He could see the bright white glow that was cyborg-Heero vanishing into the distance. His ears filled with frantic cries and screams in chorus with the familiar slash-hum-buzz of a beam scythe.

Cool air greeted his face and suddenly the black plane disintegrated to reveal a well-lit cement floor rushing past him. Everything was shifting and jolting rhythmically, and he soon realized that he was hanging upside down. He lifted his head saw that he was in a colony maintenance tunnel and became very aware of the tight shoulder pressing hard into his abdomen. It took his sluggish brain a few moments to realize that he was being carried over a shoulder. He looked down and immediately recognized the body he had been slung over.

"THIS WAY! OVER HERE!" A male voice was hollering from the tunnel. He looked up again to see four figures round a corner and pursue them.

"Heero, GUN!" He croaked urgently. In a fraction of a second Heero's hand had twisted back and presented him with the pistol without breaking his stride. Duo fumbled with the gun before wrapping his right hand firmly around the stock. He reached down with his left hand to grasp the waistband of Heero's jeans and locked his elbow in an attempt to push his body more upright. It worked. He raised his shooting arm and squinted down the iron sights and squeezed the trigger. His first shot missed. He cursed under his breath and felt Heero's stride smoothen as if to assist. He strained as he attempted to keep upright and aimed again. The men attempted to seek cover and scatter, but they weren't fast enough. He picked one of them off and sent him tumbling to the cement. It was enough to deter them from following. He saw the men grab their comrade and quickly drag him through a nearby alcove in retreat.

Duo's supporting arm quivered and he let himself go limp across Heero's shoulder. His partner ran for nearly a mile before he showed any sign of slowing.

"Ya gotta stop. I'm gonna puke," Duo said weakly as his stomach threatened to evict its contents. Heero ducked into a dimly lit circular tube with a diameter was just wide enough to stand in and gently set him on the cool, metal floor. Duo leaned his back against the concave wall and swallowed the stinging bile that had been working its way up his throat. He set the pistol down on the floor beside him and began frantically rubbing at his eyes. His skin felt itchy all over and his lips were burning with an uncomfortable, intense tingling sensation. He felt Heero sit down beside him. Duo could hear his partner's heavy breathing beginning to slow.

"What happened back there?" Heero asked quietly, his voice reflecting his apparent concern.

"A bad fucking trip, that's what." Duo said through his hands. He dropped them into his lap and groaned as the dim light from the top of the tube burned his eyes. "You were a fucking cyborg angel and the walls were made outta meat."

Heero laughed. Duo blinked and looked over at his partner. The Japanese pilot's face was filled with unrestrained amusement and his head had tilted back to release the odd, wicked-sounding belly laugh that had bubbled to the surface. Duo grinned despite himself and couldn't help but start laughing along with him.

* * *

Footnotes:

* **Eyeshine** is a visible effect of the _tapetum lucidum_. When light shines into the eye of an animal having a _tapetum lucidum_ , the pupil appears to glow. People who are on the drug will have eyes that appear to glow red in the dark. Prolonged use causes the user's irises to turn red.

** Stun Baton. "The Omega Star Warrior Baton is the best stun baton on the market. This picture does not do it justice. This baton is unlike others in that most stun batons have probes on the end like a stun gun, and have to hit the assailant straight on just like with a stun gun. The 18 inch Star Warrior has 150,000 volt arc running up and down the entire unit above the handle. It is an awesome sight! You can hit the assailant from any angle and he will go down. This unit has also been featured in two movies. The first recently out is Con Air, and the second is The Last Boy Scout which is a few years old. In both movies you can see this Bad Boy inches in action. Requires two 9 volt batteries (not included)." (Word for word from the description of the product, because omg did this make me laugh!)|

*** Space Wind: in reference to the joke about when Wing Zero first shows up flaps its wings and creates magical wind in the vacuum of space.

* * *

/AN: Awww I'm blushin'! I was faced with a decision earlier. Go to the gym, or bang out another chapter... Duo and Heero ran a lot in this one, so that has to count for something right? RIGHT?/


	19. Chapter 19

Ch 19

"Did you manage to get any proof of these allegations, Duo?" Quatre's voice sounded tinny and distorted across the COM. He saw the former Sandrock pilot lean slightly into the camera. He was wearing his Ouroboros jumpsuit. In the corner of the monitor Duo saw a long-fingered hand grasping the back of the chair.

"Yeah sure, let me just run back over there and grab a few pills and spent shell casings. Ya know, because it isn't like they were trying to kill us or anything…" Duo replied more angrily than he had intended. Quatre frowned.

"I'm sorry, Duo… but if we don't have any proof there isn't much we can legally do."

Duo felt every muscle in his body fill with tension as his irritation flared to dangerous levels. He wasn't necessarily angry with Quatre, the other pilot was only being reasonable, but he couldn't help but feel helpless and frustrated with the situation.

"So what are we supposed to do about this? If this Swan lady is working for ESUN we can't just go waltzing into her office, she'll probably have us arrested! Jesus. We're wanted men, Quatre."

"I know. Just hang tight for a little bit while I talk to Professor G and the others about this. I'll send you an updated mission plan as soon as I get it."

"Yeah, okay."

Duo saw Quatre's apologetic face vanish from view as the connection broke. He frowned down at the laptop before snapping it closed.

"You feeling any better?" Hilde's voice asked from behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see her standing in the doorway of the shop's guest room with a mug of coffee clutched tightly in her hands.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said casually as he stood up and approached her. She offered the mug to him and he gladly accepted. "Just a little stressed out."

"No good news, huh?" Hilde asked with a frown as he took the proffered coffee from her hands.

"Just the same old song and dance," Duo said bitterly before taking a tentative sip of the steaming black coffee. "I get it. Things have to be done a certain way," he said over the rim of the cup. "It still pisses me off, though. Where's Heero?"

"He's outside helping Alex move some stuff into the new unit," Hilde explained. "I still can't get over him. I know you warned me, but it is just so weird seeing him like that."

Duo nodded and sucked the coffee down quickly. He swallowed hard and handed back the now empty mug. "Yeah, it's definitely weird. He isn't as bad as I thought he was gonna be, though. He's starting to get some of his memories back, but I don't know how long it will take for him to go back to normal. Or if it will even happen," he said sadly as he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.

"I never saw him much back when we were kids. Was he always that… intense?"

Duo laughed and nodded his head enthusiastically. "Yep, he always had this look on his face like he was trying to find the cure for cancer. He used to be so tsundere*; always so aloof and high and mighty."

"What do you mean 'used' to be?" Hilde said with a laugh. "Oh my God, tell me you told him what that word means."

Duo shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest with a grin. "Are you kiddin'? He woulda probably shot me dead for comparing him to Japanese anime girls."

Hilde shook her head and smiled. "I don't think he would have ever tried to really kill you, Duo."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Trust me, he did. A coupla of times. The guy could never take a joke. First time I saw him crack a smile was when he blew up an OZ base. He used to sneak up on me and point guns in my face just for fun…" Okay, so he was definitely lying about the last part, but the statement had its desired effect. He chuckled at Hilde's shocked expression, and then flinched as she smacked him on the side of his head for tricking her.

"You're horrible," she said with a snicker as she swatted at him. Duo laughed and grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back with her free hand. He held her tightly to his chest and rested his chin on the top of her head. "You know I worry about you, Duo. It's got to be hard having him not remember you."

"Yeah, it is. I gotta do it. He needs me." Duo said faintly. He felt Hilde nod her head against his chest. He squeezed her firmly and sighed. He was worried about her. He forced his best reassuring smile to his face and hid the concern that was beginning to nag his brain.

 _The Underground knows I'm here, and eventually they're gonna come looking for me…_

He couldn't let anything happen to Hilde. He couldn't go to the police because they would immediately arrest him. He supposed Hilde could have them come keep an eye on the scrap yard to protect her but then it would blow his cover. He knew he was going to have to leave to keep her safe.

"Hilde."

He looked up and saw Alex standing in the lobby of the shop with his hands propped accusingly on his hips. At the sound of her name Hilde ducked out of Duo's arms and spun around with a smile.

"Alex! Done with the unit already?"

"... yeah. I am."

Duo frowned and locked eyes with the man who was studying his reaction closely. He wasn't going to give the guy the privilege of seeing him uncomfortable or appearing apologetic because he wasn't. He wasn't ashamed of his special friendship with Hilde, and he felt no need to apologize for showing her he cared about her.

"Wow, that was fast. You ready for lunch?" Hilde asked as she crossed the room to him. Alex finally broke away first from their staring match and looked at her. Duo didn't care for his stern expression and wanted to tell him so, but thought better of it. He had caused Hilde enough trouble without having to stir up more drama with her boyfriend. He waited until the two had vanished out the back door before padding through the shop and over to the counter. He flipped through a few inventory logs, straightened a couple of files and then found himself fishing through the top drawer of the counter until he found the keys to the Mustang. He held up his old dangling cartoon Bigfoot keychain with an accomplished smile before strutting out the rear entrance and out into the heart of the scrap yard.

The cold, stale air from the colony stung his cheeks as he walked across the dirt lot in the direction of a small, square open-air aluminum shed. As he made his way over he spotted Heero standing outside of a neatly packed intermodal shipping container.

"Yo, Heero! Take a break for a little bit," he said loudly as he made his way to the shed. As he neared it he saw the cloaked outline of his car beneath a heavy grey tarp. He grabbed the front corner and yanked it hard, unveiling the Acapulco Blue 1967 Shelby Cobra GT-500** he had left in Hilde's care before moving to the Lennon. He stepped back and took in the old car's distinctive tapered lines, center mounted rally lights and glistening hood pins. It was a sight for sore eyes. There were very few things Duo got excited to see anymore. One was this car, and the other was walking up to stand beside him. He glanced over at Heero with a toothy grin and gestured to the car.

"You remember this thing?"

"... no." Heero replied quietly. Duo shrugged and patted him on the back before traipsing up to the driver's side. He unlocked the door with the key and caressed the roof with a smile.

"Go on, get in." He gestured to the passenger side before slipping inside to unlock it for him. Heero walked around the front of the car. Duo could see him taking in the Mustang with an appreciative gaze.

"Sucks we can't take her for a run," Duo said as Heero took a seat. He slipped the key into the ignition. "If the cops saw her on the road they'd nail us for sure." He depressed the clutch with his left foot and turned her over. The car chugged a few times before the engine growled to life. Duo sighed happily at the monstrous vibrations beneath his feet. He turned up the Mustang's heater and flipped the fan to full blast. "Gotta run it every now and then otherwise the gas gets stale," he explained with a smile. He leaned back into the cool, worn black leather seat and clasped his hands against the back of his neck before looking over at his partner.

Heero was staring at the large, silver cobra logo on the dashboard in front of him with an unreadable expression. He didn't seem to notice Duo was watching him. Duo sighed and let his eyes wander the entire length of the Japanese man's body. Hilde had given Heero some Duo's old clothes to wear while they were laying low on L2 to help him blend in. He was wearing one of Duo's favorite red and black plaid long sleeve hooded shirts, a pair of worn denim jeans and a pair of dark grey Low Top Converse shoes. If Duo didn't know any better he would have assumed that Heero was just some random college kid hanging out in a car with his friend. Who would ever suspect that the guy sitting beside him was the former pilot of Wing Gundam, the savior of the colonies and the Earth-Sphere as it was now? Who would believe that the stern-faced, quiet youth had once been a deadly assassin and ruthless soldier?

A sudden sadness washed over him as he watched his friend reach up to trace the lines of the Cobra emblem with a fingertip. As much as he wanted Heero to remember him and everything they had been through he also felt a strongly opposed to it. His friend was being given a second chance. He didn't have to sleep at night with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn't have to struggle with his decisions from the war anymore. He didn't have to feel haunted or inadequate. He didn't have to know any of it. He was getting a rewrite. As much as it hurt Duo that everything had been lost the thought of Heero having to endure the torture of the past hurt worse.

"What is that?" Duo was snapped out of his thoughts by Heero gesturing to the tape deck.

"That is a cassette player," he said with a smile. He leaned over to pop open the glove compartment in the dashboard and gestured to the variety of vintage cassette tapes he had re-magnetized inside it. "It plays these things. Pick one, I'll show you."

He watched Heero finger through the cassettes for a moment before appearing to grab one at random. He handed it to him with a flat, placid expression.

"Nice. This is a good one," Duo said happily as he opened the jewel case of the album "Escape & Captured" by Journey and let the tape fall out into his hand before shoving it into the player.

The heavily blended piano opening of "Don't Stop Believin'" immediately buzzed the speakers and filled the cabin of the car. Duo leaned back against the seat again and watched as Heero relaxed into his own seat. As the song progressed he could see the other pilot's foot tapping faintly to the music.

He was surprised at Heero's attachment to music after his mind wipe. In the past Duo had played music all the time but the other pilot never seemed interested in any of it. Heero had always seemed to prefer silence when he worked, as opposed to Duo who needed music to focus. He had given his FLACC player to Heero on a whim, not expecting him to actually use it. Now he couldn't get the guy to give it up. He glanced down and saw the outline of the player in Heero's pocket. It made him feel good to see him enjoying something normal for once.

As the music pounded on he began to wonder what Heero would have been if there was never an Operation Meteor? Who would he have been? Would they have ever met? Probably not. Duo was convinced that if it wasn't for Operation Meteor he would have never had an opportunity to leave L2. Their paths would have never crossed.

After a few tracks he reached over to turn the music down so he could speak over it.

"We're gonna have to leave," Duo said slowly. Heero looked up at him from inspecting the dash and nodded.

"They're going to trace you here." Heero stated the fact plainly. Duo nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah. Sucks. I really don't wanna leave Hilde out of nowhere, but I can't let that shit come here. We can't let her know where we're going, either."

"I understand."

"Well, yeah, I figured you would. She is gonna be so pissed at me, though."

"She will forgive you. She really cares about you," Heero said flatly. Duo sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah she does, that's a problem too. That guy of hers saw me huggin' her earlier, and I'm afraid I started some shit with him." Duo said with a frown. "And I talked to Quatre, he said we need proof about the connection between ESUN and those pills before we can really do anything. Fuckin' sucks because the ESUN is a sponsor of Preventer, so we can't even send an anonymous message to them. Looks like we bit off more than we can chew here."

He saw Heero nod his head softly. His eyes were downcast to the center console. He appeared lost in thought.

"This fuckin' sucks. We were supposed to just pick up the Gundam… now we are stuck with more bullshit. What if there is no Gundam? What is the ESUN has it or something? If the contact is connected to them, then who is to say she isn't going to arrest us the minute we show up for the access codes?"

"What did G say?"

"Nothing yet. I'm supposed to be waiting on them, but who knows what they come up with. Shit." He reached up to rub the tension out of his forehead. He saw Heero leaning forward to rest his fingers on the volume dial of the tape deck.

"Then wait," the Japanese pilot said before turning the music back up. Duo's chuckle was drowned out by the smooth serenade of "Still They Ride" crackling the speakers.

 _Still they ride, on wheels of fire_

 _They rule the night_

 _Still they ride, the strong will survive_

 _Chasing thunder_

He drummed his fingers slowly to the dragging beat of the music and let himself relax. Heero was right; there was nothing they could do right now but wait. He tried to push out all of the thoughts about Gundams, illicit drug trade and conspiracy. He wanted to just live in the moment. He was sitting in a badass car, listening to an epic guitar solo with his best friend. What could be better than that?

"The mood transitioned as "Escape" flooded the inside of the Mustang. Duo drummed his the steering wheel with his index fingers happily and soon had completely forgotten about the stresses of the day as he sang along with the song.

" _He's just a young boy out of school,_

 _Livin' his world like he wants to._

 _They're makin' laws, but they don't understand,_

 _Turns a boy in to a fightin' man!_

 _They won't take me,_

 _They won't break me!_

 _No one could tell him what to do,_

 _Had to learn everything the hard way._

 _He's on the street, breakin' all the rules,_

 _I'm tellin' you that he's nobody's fool!_

 _They won't take me,_

 _They won't break me!"_

He looked over to see Heero scowling at him. He blinked and turned the music down.

"What's wrong?"

"You're ruining the song," Heero said coldly.

"Whatever. Come on, lighten up!" Duo said as he playfully punched his partner's shoulder. As his hand pulled away Heero's shot up to grab his offending wrist tightly. Duo laughed and swat at him with his free hand to knock the side of his partner's head in retaliation. He saw the corner of Heero's mouth perk into a half-smile upon impact. He immediately recognized that expression.

 _That's not good._ "Oh shi-"

Heero lunged at him and before Duo could process what was happening the other pilot had crossed the center console and pinned him back against his seat with his hands pressed down against his waist. The Japanese pilot was practically sitting in his lap. Duo felt his eyes involuntarily widen as a burning heat erupted across his skin, ignited by the sudden closeness of his absolutely gorgeous boyfriend.

 _He's still my boyfriend… he even said it._

Despite the state of Heero's memories he knew that the other pilot still liked him. He had been making that more than obvious. He had corrected him in the Underground. It was the same terse, matter-of-fact correction he had given Dr. J before his memory loss. He knew that he was still attracted to him. He was certain that if Miles had not interrupted them that he would have definitely fucked Heero raw. He stared up at his partner as he held him down and felt his chest tighten at the thought that the person in front of him had no idea what that kind of intimacy felt like. He wanted to show him, but part of him was still obsessing over the idea that Heero was rewriting his life now. Did he understand what Duo was about to do to him there in the Underground? Was he even ready for that?

In the past he and Heero had wasted no time getting to know each other sexually. Duo blamed himself for that. He knew he had forced the former Wing pilot into situations that had made him uncomfortable. In the end Heero had been fine with it, and had come to crave it, but was that even normal? Was that what normal teenagers did?

Duo desperately wanted to be normal, and once the thought had entered his mind he couldn't seem to ignore it. He could have never imagined himself in the position he was in now, chilling in a car listening to music with Heero Yuy dressed in grungy street clothes sitting on top of him as they horsed around.

Heero was getting a rewrite and Duo wanted one, too. He instantly decided that he was going to do things differently this time around. They had been given a chance to change things, and he was going to make the best of it.

"Let's make out," Duo said brightly. Heero's eyes widened and his lips parted in surprise. Duo took advantage of his shock and managed to wrench one of his wrists from the other pilot's grasp. He reached up and grasped the back of Heero's neck and began easing him closer so that their faces were only a hair's breadth apart. Heero had released his other wrist and had lifted his hand up to rest on his shoulder as he drew close. He used his now liberated hand to grab his partner's hips and guide them to rest on top of his own. "That okay?"

Heero's cobalt eyes were smiling. "Yeah."

Duo leaned up and pressed his lips firmly against Heero's. He felt the other pilot hesitate for a moment before reciprocating the movement to kiss him back. Heero had dropped all of his weight against his lap and Duo felt his hand snake across his shoulders to tug at his braid, which was pinned between his back and the seat. He shifted to release the tension against it so Heero could tangle it around his hand. His partner slipped his other hand up his chest to rest obediently over the nipple he had introduced him to earlier. He felt the other pilot's finger ghost over it through his sweatshirt.

He broke the kiss with a gasp. "Damn, you're a fast learner," he murmured against his mouth as he experimentally rocked his hips up into Heero's. He felt his partner tense as their growing arousals nudged together. He chuckled and pulled Heero's mouth down into his again and parted his lips slightly to allow him access if he wanted it. Heero began tentatively exploring his mouth with his tongue, efficiently and systematically probing every centimeter of it.

It was ridiculously hard for Duo to restrain from accelerating the situation. He found himself occasionally grasping at Heero's amazingly tight ass and considering a change of plans but somehow he had managed to collect enough self control to just sit back and let his inexperienced partner call the shots. He had decided that he would only counter Heero's movements and meet him at whatever base he decided to take them to.

They had rounded first base, and were quickly mounting second. Heero's hand was now magically under his shirt, teasing and pinching his preferred nipple while the intensity of his kissing increased. Duo matched him and had forced one hand up the front of Heero's shirt to do the same. He began rocking his hips against his partner's in a firm, steady rhythm, encouraging him to do the same with the hand he had clasped tightly on his hip.

Duo was rock hard and his erection ached angrily at the lack of stimulation. He tried to ignore its fervent call and instead focused on the pleasure of training his partner on the finer points of performance in high school style makeout sessions.

Eventually the windows and windshield of the Mustang had clouded over. The tape had ended loud click and whir as it rewinded. The Shelby grumbled softly beneath them as they rocked and sighed against one another.

Abruptly the heavy sound of a synthesizer broke the quiet as "The Final Countdown" by Europe blasted from Duo's pocket. His cell phone began buzzing urgently against his thigh.

 **!We're leaving together, but still it's farewell. And maybe we'll come back, to Earth who can tell?!**

Duo groaned into Heero's mouth in frustration. Heero pulled away from him and was staring down expectantly.

"Why nowwwww?" Duo whined. His partner's eyes narrowed on him, and he knew he was right. "Yeah, yeah. Fine. Shit."

He reluctantly fingered his phone from his pocket and looked down at it. It was an incoming message from Quatre entitled "Update".

"Good timing, Quatre." Duo grumbled as he opened the message and scanned its contents.

"What does it say?" Heero asked coolly.

Duo sighed heavily. "It says we gotta get busy, and not in the way I wanna…"

* * *

Footnotes:

*"The term "dere" itself comes from the Japanese word "deredere" (デレデレ) which is the onomatopoeia for being lovestruck. By combining this word with other words, we get these new terms which describe love interests in anime and games. The first and most well known of the deres is the tsundere. The "tsun" in tsundere comes from the Japanese word "tsuntsun" (ツンツン) which means to be aloof or high and mighty. Thus, tsunderes are often stuck-up on the outside but loving on the inside. Often, tsunderes are embarrassed by or don't know what to do with their romantic feelings and become even more belligerent and egotistical than normal—especially in proximity to the objects of their affections. Their constant inner struggle between their pride and love is the key to how these characters act. As tsundere characters develop and accept their feelings, they will often remain in "tsun" mode in public but become more and more "dere" when in private". - Kotaku

** Acapulco Blue 1967 Shelby Cobra GT-500 was purchased by Duo from someone whose grandmother owned a gun shop in Chicago, IL. This is a nod the character Rally Vincent from the manga/anime "Gunsmith Cats". (An amazing series with lots of great characters and detailed art. If you like cars and guns this is the show for you. I highly recommend it. Great car chases and action scenes!)

* * *

/AN: *wavies* Happy Superbowl Sunday! I just remembered that Milo the cat is supposed to be living here on L2. Oops. Let's just say he is hiding because he hates Heero for shoving him in a box that one time.../


	20. Chapter 20

Ch 20

Part One

Duo didn't really know what label to put on his sexual orientation. He had never given it much thought. Sure, he had casually discussed it with Hilde and a few friends, but he had never sat down to really think about what it was exactly that aroused him. He found women and men both equally attractive under most circumstances. He loved Hilde's body and had always considered her to be the ideal woman. She was both athletic and soft at the same time, with just the right amount of femininity and allure to really turn his head.

He was extremely attracted to Heero. The former Wing pilot was small like him, but what little frame he had was bound by hard, well-developed muscle. He had never considered if Heero was masculine before. The lithe Japanese man was powerful and capable, but did that make him masculine? His body language could be both simultaneously casual and guarded. Unlike Duo, Heero didn't sit with his legs splayed out in every direction. His posture was always compact and erect, and he always appeared completely composed when in motion. His expression was normally hard and his face was generally handsome at any given time.

So when Heero turned the corner from Hilde's room looking pretty, soft and demure Duo's brain couldn't process what he was seeing, only that he really liked it. He felt his breath catch in his throat as his eyes scanned his partner's body after its magical girl transformation.

Heero was standing awkwardly within the door frame to Hilde's room in clothes she had expertly provided for him. His legs were covered in high black stockings that ended mid-thigh to reveal a gap of flesh that was surprisingly full and round. As his eyes worked upward he saw a short, clingy black mini skirt. Duo couldn't help himself. He looked for any sign of deception around Heero's crotch but to his surprise found none. His partner's upper body was wrapped in a black long sleeve turtleneck beneath a grey round collar sweater. His normally shaggy brown hair had been slicked back and styled under Hilde's favorite red beret. Somewhere along the way Hilde had provided Heero with a chest, which was perfectly proportionate to his frame. He watched as Heero shifted his black ankle boots and began to glare at him uncomfortably.

"Stop looking at me like that," Heero said in a low, testy voice. His glossy lips were turned down into a frustrated frown.

"I… uh…." Duo was dumbstruck. He couldn't find the words.

"Okay, your turn!" Hilde said cheerfully from her room. Duo watched in awe as Heero walked slowly through the door and out of the room to take a seat on a chair in the hallway. When he crossed his legs at the ankles Duo lost what little composure he had left.

"Oh my god! Dude, you look like a chick!" Duo gasped between chuckles. His partner was glowering at him.

"Isn't that the point?" Heero seethed. Duo was pretty sure he could see him blushing beneath his makeup.

"Hahahahaha! Yeah… but I mean… I dunno. I didn't expect you to look this fucking nice. Shit…"

"I said stop looking at me," Heero grumbled as he crossed his arms over his perky A-cup chest. Duo tried to stifle his laughter but failed miserably. He ducked into Hilde's room before the former Wing pilot could murder him.

Hilde was waiting for him in her room with an arm full of pastel fabric and a wide smile.

"What is that?" Duo asked as he approached her. She held the items up proudly.

"Your outfit!" She announced. Duo shook his head quickly and pointed at the pile of pink and yellow in her hands.

"Oh hell no. Black. Don't you have anything black?" He whined as Hilde grabbed his hoodie and tried to pull up and over his head.

"Duo, you have to trust me on this. This is going to be perfect for you!"

"But Heero gets to wear black," Duo moped as his sweatshirt and t-shirt disappeared from his body.

"You made Heero go first, so he got first pick. Come on, stop being a baby and take off your pants. You're gonna look gorgeous," Hilde cajoled him as she began tugging the waistline of his jeans.

Half an hour later Duo found himself staring at a mirror-verse at a version of himself he thought he would never see.

Hilde had nearly poked his eyes out with a pencil but the end result of her torture was impressive. Duo's eyes appeared to be even wider and more pronounced than they had been before, which he didn't think was even possible. His cheeks were pink and his mouth was sticky with a sweet, sparkly gloss. He let his tongue glide reflexively across his vanilla lower lip.

"Would you stop eating it!" Hilde scolded him from over his shoulder as she tugged at a lock of his hair which had been liberated from his usual trademark braid only to be forced through the hot twisting and turning torture of a curling iron.

Duo frowned and then scoffed as the image in the mirror appeared to adorably pout in response.

He couldn't believe that they were going to run an infiltration and recon mission in drag. Quatre's new message had outlined that they would need to gather evidence of the ESUN's involvement with the L2 Underground drug trade. They would need to go into the Free Trade building in the colony's Quad One undercover and undetected.

One of Duo's specialties was disguise and infiltration. Normally the usual janitor, security guard or school kid costume would have sufficed but they had a lot of factors working against them this time around. The Underground would more than likely tell their contact that they had been asking around about her. She may or may not know what Duo and Heero already looked like, and if she didn't she would have been tipped off that a guy with long hair and his serious little friend would probably be on their way to see her. If she was with the ESUN she would have told them that her identity was compromised, and so they would more than likely wire the L2 Colony Police Department to let them know that two wanted criminals would be on colony.

In the end they would have the ESUN, the Underground, CPD and whatever dark agents involved in this conspiracy all on the lookout for them. Because the Underground was involved Duo wouldn't be able to use his local citizen advantage and sneak in through the utility system. The only way in was through the front door, so they had to make sure nobody would suspect a thing.

He wasn't sure that his costume was as convincing as Heero's. He let his eyes quickly assess his foreign figure in the mirror while Hilde fussed with his hair.

She had forced him to shave his legs. He didn't understand the point of doing it because she had insisted on him wearing black, sheer panty hose anyway.

He had been happy to see something black in the lineup, but unfortunately it was the only black thing she gave him. The rest of his body was clad in a pair of peachy shorts and a white pointed collar long sleeve shirt with thin, loose black bow reminiscent of the kind the uniforms at St. Gabriel Academy had. The whole kit and kaboodle was topped off by a pale yellow blazer jacket, which did a pretty good job at masking the fact that Duo had no womanly curves to speak of and had provided excellent coverage for his shoulder holster and his subcompact GLOCK 26.

 _I'm so… cute_ , he thought with disgust as Hilde tossed a silky curl over his shoulder.

"I need a concealment system," Heero's voice said from behind him. Duo looked in the mirror and saw that Heero was standing directly behind him with his arms crossed firmly over his chest. The Japanese pilot was giving the back of him an appraising look.

"A what?" Hilde had paused mid-curl to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"He needs a purse," Duo translated with a smirk.

"Ohhh… okay, look in my closet to the right." Hilde said as she fluffed Duo's loose curls with her fingers. Heero vanished from view for a minute before returning with a black claspless saddlebag purse. He shouldered it casually before leaving the room.

Duo sighed. "You done yet?"

"You've got a lot of hair back here," Hilde said as she grabbed the curly pile with both hands and tousled it.

"Yeah, well you're done. This is good enough, it isn't like we're going to prom." Duo grumbled as he shook his hair from her hands and stalked across the room to his duffle bag on her bed. He shuffled through its contents until he found his lock picks and a few PBX* detonation pins. He began carefully tucking them into his hair and behind his ear like bobby pins.

Duo was excited to be going out on a real boots on the ground mission. At least one of them was wearing boots. He cast his eyes down to consider the too-tight nude wedges Hilde had insisted that he wear and sighed. He hoped that this would be a quick and easy infiltration. All they had to do was get to the Free Trade building, find Adelle Formic's office and find some evidence to prove her involvement with the Underground, a secret ESUN project or the Gundam. Then they could send a report to Quatre and wait for further instructions.

He straightened the front of his yellow jacket and cursed whoever it was who had decided that the Free Trade building operated on a 24-hour schedule. It was that fact that had forced them into girl clothes in the first place. If the offices had down time they could have just snuck in after hours.

He glanced down at his watch. It was nearly 1730 and they were running a few minutes behind schedule. Heero had wanted to arrive at exactly 1810 when the building's front security would change shift. They would hopefully be able to cross through the lobby undetected while the officers were giving each other report.

"Gotta go," Duo said with a smile. "We're gonna catch a bus down the block so nobody will track we left from here," he explained. Hilde was grinning up at him.

"You look really good," she said happily, clearly impressed with her own handiwork. "But when you speak it ruins everything. Let Heero do all the talking."

"Heero? Talk? I'm pretty sure if we get confronted guns and fists will be doing the talkin'." He grabbed her by the top of arms and leaned in to kiss her, leaving a shiny smudge on her cheek.

"You're not coming back, are you?"

"... how did you know that?" Duo asked, surprised.

"I'm not dumb. I get it, you don't want them to find you here. It's fine, really. You better send these clothes back though. Those shorts are Angelic Pretty.**" Hilde said with a tight smile. He nodded and gave her a light hug before grabbing his bag and heading for the door. He saw Heero waiting at the end of the hallway in a black peacoat with his bag in hand and his mission face on. As they left the scrap yard and made their way to the nearest bus stop his partner fell into graceful step beside him.

"You need to change the way you're walking and cross one foot over the other," Heero said in a flat, unamused voice. "You walk like a lumberjack."

"Hey, give me a break? I've never been a girl before, okay?" Duo huffed, annoyed at Heero's rude observation, but attempted to take his advice anyway. He attempted to place one foot carefully in front of the other as they strolled. His toe caught the sidewalk and he lost his balance and tripped.

Part Two

It was 1808 and in two minutes the guard shift would change in the lobby of the L2 Free Trade building. Heero casually straightened the constrictive neck of his black turtleneck and shrugged the long strap of the purse Hilde had let him borrow up higher onto his shoulder. He could feel the light weight of the black polymer Springfield Armory XD-M*** Duo had loaned him resting in the center of the black bag. When he had first awoke on the Lennon after the nanomachine attack he had been surprised to learn that his former self had sworn off carrying a handgun and opted to become more pacifist in his self-defense tactics. It was obvious that Duo didn't share the same sentiments. His old scrap yard had been chocked full of hidden weapons and before they left for this mission he had been given a choice between the SA XD-M or a 9mm Glock. Heero always preferred to use .45 ACP ammunition, so the SA XD-M had been the better choice.

As they strode side by side through the revolving door of the Free Trade building Heero immediately scanned the lobby. It was crowded with employees moving in and out of elevators. Some appeared to be starting their day, carrying coffee mugs and newspapers with bleary eyes. Others were smiling and eager to leave as they ended their shifts. He rested his hand lightly against his black bag and held it firmly against his hip as they walked. He had chosen this particular style of bag out of Hilde's collection because of its size and accessibility. It had a simple flap top with no obstructive zippers or clasps, providing a seamless access to the pistol nestled within.

Heero had no problem wearing women's clothing. He hadn't made it a personal habit, but he had experience dressing like a girl for missions. When he was a little boy Odin Lowe had dressed him in girl clothes and dresses for various undercover operations. He had been schooled in proper female body language and etiquette as well. Dressing this way was just part of the assignment to him, but his partner was having trouble adapting to the situation. He glanced over at Duo who was glued to his side. His bright, wide violet eyes were darting back and forth nervously and he had reverted back to his stumbling, casual gait again. He wondered vaguely how Duo could be so good at playacting the victim in the Underground, but then have so much trouble just wearing a change of outfit in public. Heero sighed and decided to give up on correcting the American pilot. Every time he mentioned what he was doing wrong it only seemed to make the situation worse.

Heero saw the distinctive navy blue uniforms of the security guards at the long, dark wooden desk to their right. The cluster of officers were gathered together for change of shift, laughing and greeting one another. They were distracted. He slipped through the crowd with Duo at his left flank, heading straight for the elevators. Luckily one had landed on the first floor as they approached and had dumped its occupants, leaving it conveniently vacant. Heero ducked inside with Duo and tapped the button to close the door before anyone else could join them. Duo was looking down at his phone, and for a moment appeared to be nothing more than a teenage girl absorbed in her social media account.

"Says here she's on the eighth floor," his boyish voice said from beneath a cascade of long, silky curls. Heero pressed the button for the eighth floor and waited. He could see his partner's anxious face in the reflection of the shiny, metallic elevator doors.

For once he was seeing Duo definitely out of his element and it was almost endearing. Up until now Heero had only witnessed Duo doing things he did best and now he appeared unsure and lacked his usual smiling confidence. His subdued demeanor only seemed to add to his costume. He glanced down at the hole in his partner's ripped black panty hose and gestured casually to the bloody scrape on his knee he had acquired from his earlier clumsy fall.

"It's fine," Duo mumbled as he tapped the screen of his phone. "Can you hear me?"

Heero could hear Duo's voice clearly through the small, clear earpiece in his ear. He nodded and saw Duo stow his phone somewhere beneath his jacket. He could see faintly through the other man's hair that he wore a matching earpiece. The elevator stopped and opened to reveal the eighth floor. This was where they would part ways. Duo ducked to the right and down the hallway while Heero checked the plaque on the wall just across from the elevator to find the Global Trade Association office, where their target would be housed. As far as Duo had been able to find through internet searches Adelle Formic would no longer be at work. According to the GTA website their office hours were now over, but Heero knew that wasn't always the case. He found her office number listed as 9A and slowly padded his way to the left.

The plan was that Duo would make a distraction that would force anyone still on the floor in his direction so Heero could get inside the target's office and search for evidence.

The floor the office was on was like any floor in any office building Heero had been in. Dull, abstract art lined the walls and occasionally there was an empty waiting area or an unoccupied secretary desk. He walked through all of it as if he belonged there. He found that looking around too much only drew attention from any patrol officers or security who happened to be watching the security cameras. Eventually he found the office 9A. The door was closed and "Ms. Angela Formic" had been painted neatly on the glass door. The only window into the office space was on the door, and beyond the glass Heero could see the lights were off inside and there was no sign that it was occupied. He reached out to casually try the doorknob and found it to be locked. He sighed and glanced around quickly and spotted a secretary desk nearby. He took a seat at it and began straightening the items on the desk as if he were about to start a shift. He would have to kill time until Duo set off his distraction.

Part Three

 _How can Heero be so calm?_ Duo wondered as he walked down the hallway and through the eighth floor office space. He heard voices up ahead and slowed his pace, his eyes scanning his surroundings for something to use as a distraction. He found himself standing in an open space filled with a maze of grey cubicle walls. He could hear people talking but he couldn't tell which units they were situated in.

He picked his way quietly down the center of the partitions until he spotted an alcove that appeared to be a break area. A water cooler and a small table with a coffee machine where pressed against the wall inside. Duo suppressed a wicked grin as he slowly inched his way to the break area.

 _Good enough,_ he thought with a smirk. He reached up to grab the top of the water cooler tank, glanced around to make sure nobody would see him in action and shoved it over into the coffee table. The quiet floor was suddenly filled with the clatter and slamming sound of the table's contents spilling onto the linoleum. The heavy water tank made a loud boom as it fell, its water gushing from its tapered opening to flood the floor. Duo smiled, dropped himself down into the puddle and stretched out the leg with the scrape on the knee and tried to look as pathetic and weak as possible.

"Owwwwwwww!" He wailed in his best high, girly voice. "Oh no! Someone help!' He draped the back of his hand over his forehead.

Shortly five office workers had materialized from their cubicles and were on approach. At the forefront of the suited men was a particularly large, handsome guy with auburn hair. He knelt down quickly beside him and peered into his face. Duo quickly covered his face with his hands and moaned pathetically into them.

"Oh nooooooooooo," he said melodramatically.

"Miss? Miss, are you okay? What happened?" The man asked. His colleagues were flitting around the destruction attempting to stop the water from spreading to their office spaces.

"Yeah, I um… was just looking for my mom and I musta slipped," Duo said as convincingly as he could.

"I'm in," Duo heard Heero say through his earpiece. "Keep them busy."

"Who is your mom?" The man asked. Duo felt him grab his shoulders and try to ease him up from the puddle.

"Helen Mirren," Duo said through his hands. "Oh man I am just soooo embarrassed, ommmmgooohhhddd…."

"It's okay, come over here and sit down. Here let me help you." The man was urging him toward a chair. Duo nodded but kept his hands over his face. He slumped down heavily into the chair and doubled over to keep the man from getting any closer.

"Where's my mom? Can you call her?" Duo whined through his hands. The man was hovering over him, but couldn't get a direct look into his face.

"What was her name again?" The man asked.

"Julia Roberts," Duo replied.

"Okay, well we don't have any Roberts on this floor. I think you're in the wrong place. Let me go check the staff inventory, okay? Oh no, is your leg alright?" The older man asked. He had crouched down to inspect Duo's wounded knee. Duo shifted away from him and faked a sob. "No, don't cry. You'll be okay. What's your name?"

"Sally… Sally Field," Duo said between theatrical sobs. "I just came up here to find my mom, and she's not here. What if she left us? What if dad was right and she hates me? What if she really did hook up with the gardener? Please, mister… ya gotta help me find my mom."

"Shhh, don't worry, miss. I will go and check the staff directory for your mom, you just wait here okay?" The kind man said before getting up to retreat to his nearby cubicle. Duo glanced up and saw that a few of the other staff members were looking at him with skeptical expressions. He buried his face into his hands again and sobbed louder in an attempt to make them feel guilty for staring. It seemed to work.

"I've got it. I'll meet you at the rendezvous point." Heero's smooth, confident voice filled his ear. Duo sighed and peered through parted fingers at the workers who appeared too busy cleaning up his mess to really notice him. The man who had helped him was nowhere to be seen. He smiled into his hands and carefully toed off the wedge heels Hilde had given him. His feet and the back of his ass and thighs were wet, and he wasn't about to take another fall in the damn things.

 _Ready… set… fuck this shit._ Duo jumped to his feet and darted through the office space and made a beeline for the nearby stairs.

* * *

Footnotes

* Plastic bonded explosives (PBX), is to combine explosive chemicals with a plastic binder material. ... It makes the explosive material highly malleable.

** Angelic Pretty is a popular brand of sweet lolita style clothing.

*** Springfield Armory XD-M - .45 ACP 2 - 13 Round, Stainless Steel

* * *

/AN: Awww you guys, thanks. Happy to share with ya. I am having too much fun, tbh. ;) Hope you enjoyed this little bit of randomness. Poor pansexual Duo is so frickin' confused and frustrated. Yeaaaaah, I'm going off the deep end, but it all is for a good reason, I promise! Thanks again to my pal Sophie3 for playing GW boy paper dolls with me last night to help me work out the logistics of fashion part./


	21. Chapter 21

Ch 21

Part One

Heero didn't recognized any of the names from the file he had taken from Adelle Formic's private server. He had skimmed the data as it transferred. One thing that stuck out to him most was a shipment record concerning cargo moving from L2 Colony to L1 in the time frame that Miles Ashcroft had mentioned earlier. Approximately three days ago an unidentified shipment had been put on a private freighter with no other cargo on a direct course for L1, to be delivered to someone named Luna Armonia. It was the fourth shipment of its type to make that journey in the past three months. The log didn't state what the item was and under the Manufacturer's data tab the name "Underway Enterprises" had been listed as the L2 contact. There was no other contact information available.

Heero studied his coconut lychee ice cream cone before taking an experimental lick. He leaned back against the park bench he and Duo had agreed to rendezvous at. He peered up into the thick, brown industrial ozone that hung just overhead. He could just barely see the gentle curve of the colony as it vanished through the smog. Nearby a group of elementary school kids were playing with a frisbee and laughing with delight at the fact that none of them could catch it. He watched the little kids scrambling and tripping over one another in thick winter coats and hats. The crisp, cool air was filled with their giggles and excited shrieks.

"Mind if I sit beside you*?" He heard a familiar tone speak from behind him inflecting high in a failed attempt at a school girl impression. As the words sunk into his mind they triggered an unusual, sharp pain in his temples. The pain was sudden, but quickly subsided into nothing more than a dull, throbbing ache. He squinted his eyes to alleviate some of the sudden pressure in them.

"Fine," he said before running his tongue over the edge of the cone to stop his melting frozen treat from oozing down over his hand. He didn't have to turn around to see who the voice belonged to. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Duo step around the bench still wearing his disguise.

"The Academy Award goes to-"

"Sally Field.**" Heero replied smartly.

Duo laughed as he slumped sloppily down onto the park bench with his legs haphazardly splayed out in front of him. Heero found himself suddenly glad that, for the children's sake, Duo was wearing shorts and not a skirt.

"Hahaha, you heard that, huh?" Duo said with a chuckle. His partner had brought with him their previously hidden duffle bags. He dropped them to the ground at his feet. Heero immediately noticed that he was no longer wearing Hilde's shoes but his own black half-laced combat boots. He raised an eyebrow at them.

"What? Listen, those damn wedge things gave me some serious blisters. Girls wear boots too, ya know." Duo explained quickly. Heero sighed as the former Deathscythe pilot reached over to grab his wrist and pull the ice cream to his face to steal a mouthful with a grin. "So, what did you find?" He asked in a sticky voice.

"Potential proof of the shipments your friend Ashcroft had mentioned moving from L2 to L1. The contact's name is Luna Armonia. Does that name mean anything to you?"

"Doesn't mean a damn thing," Duo said between licks of Heero's ice cream. "But I bet Quatre can run all that stuff through the Lennon's database with Wing-One. He took all his personal collections and connected them to one huge server. Remember that recon face scan thing he did on X-18999?" He paused mid lick and then shook his head. "Sorry, I forgot you weren't… well, around for that I guess. Anyway, he made this thing that can locate people through security cameras and stuff. I bet if we get a photograph of this Luna person we can find out where she is on L1."

"You're getting ahead of yourself," Heero replied sternly. He wrenched his ice cream from Duo's hands and bit into the cone with a smirk. "Let the others handle that. We have our original mission to take care of."

He saw Duo blink his charcoal eyes and stare at him from across the bench. "Eh? You mean… but how do we know that this Formic lady isn't with the ESUN? How else are we supposed to find the damn thing? If it's somewhere on the colony and underground it could be guarded by the Underground people, or her people, or fuck: anyone! We don't even know where to start..."

This was exactly the moment Heero had been waiting for. He reached into his coat pocket and produced a Post-it note with "Q3-LV22-UTL191" written in blue pen. He handed it to him. Duo took the yellow slip of paper and eyed the numbers closely before looking up at him in shock.

"Where did ya get this?"

"Formic's desk. I'm assuming you recognize what it is."

"Hell yeah I do!" Duo lowered his voice to a raspy whisper. "These are colony assembly coordinates."

"Exactly. It could be nothing but a coincidence," Heero said mildly as he popped the remainder of his ice cream cone into his mouth.

Part Two

"Yeah, or it could be exactly what we're lookin' for." Duo finished his statement for him with a devious grin. He felt like a cat preparing to pounce on a mouse, zeroing in on its kill. "Finally! Man, it is gonna be great to see my old buddy again." He felt like he could crawl out of his own skin with excitement. When he had heard that their contact was somehow connected to the ESUN it had killed the joy he had been harboring for his reunion with Deathscythe. Or rather, his old suit's predecessor, Lucifer. Either way, he had been on his way to pick up a Gundam before all of the crazy had unfolded in the Underground.

Duo knew that going under the colony and to those coordinates was a longshot, but he felt like it was worth a try. They couldn't do much else at the moment. There was no going back to stay at Hilde's place, and they would need to allow Ouroboros some time to process the data Heero had stolen. Why not rummage around in the colony's Underground for a while? He shifted his weight as he felt the stiff barrel of his Glock digging into his ribs beneath his jacket, reminding him that the second time they would go down below they would be ready.

The colony's lights had begun to dim to simulate Earth's dusk. The little kids who had been playing in the grassy area beside them had scattered to go to their respective homes, leaving them sitting on the chilly park bench alone. Duo shoved a springy curl from his face and tapped his feet against the ground. "Guess we gotta find a place to camp out for the night, huh? It's gonna be a little hard dressed like this," he said as he gestured to Heero's thigh high stockings and mini skirt. "I was thinkin' we could use our alias ID cards so we don't have to worry about being tracked by the CPD, but it is gonna be hard considering we don't look anything like 'em. We gotta find somewhere to change, first."

Heero shrugged a shoulder in response. He was looking up at the blurry image of the colony's streetlights flickering to life as the day transitioned to night. Duo followed his gaze and smiled.

"It's funny how all these colonies are built basically from the same design, and yet they are all so drastically different, huh? I feel bad for L2. She didn't start off this way," Duo found himself ranting. He tugged the front of his jacket closed against the cold and sighed, his nostalgia mingling with his frosty breath. "The people here are good people. They work hard and they try their best. It is just hard to kill the virus of internal corruption. Kinda pisses me off, this whole ESUN thing. It means that the dark shit that has forever plagued L2 is spreading off this colony to other places now… Man. We gotta stop this shit, Heero. That drug is no joke. You saw what it did to Miles. He isn't the same guy I used to know. I only got some residue off of those things and it really screwed me up for a bit. Can you imagine a whole army of people on that stuff?"

He sighed and pushed himself to his feet. "Anyway, I'm starving. I can't believe you didn't get me an ice cream," Duo muttered, feigning hurt feelings as he shouldered his bag. "I'm gonna go get 'Back in Black'^*. You coming?"

Heero shook his head and glanced over at him. "I'll wait. We will look less conspicuous if one of us stays in disguise."

Duo blinked. A wicked grin slipped across his face as he observed Heero sitting so casually in his little skirt. It occurred to him that what the other pilot was wearing wasn't far off from the atrocious spandex and tank top combo he had sported throughout Operation Meteor. It was no wonder that he seemed so relaxed. Heero Yuy was used to showing a little skin.

"Well, now you know that if being a mobile suit pilot and freedom fighter doesn't work out for ya, you can always be a successful drag star." Duo teased. He ducked the glare Heero had shot his way with a laugh before reaching down to pluck the now hopelessly ripped black panty hose from his thigh and sighed. "How can anyone stand wearing this crap? Here, hold this 'til I get back." He shrugged off his jacket and shoulder holster and handed them to Heero before stomping heavily across the grass toward the public restroom, reciting AC/DC's "Back In Black" in a playful singsong voice while he played a few zealous riffs on air guitar. He banged his head a couple of times for good measure.

(**** Warning, this part has suggestions of sexual violence and rape themes. If you are sensitive to this, skip ahead to the next line of stars. ****)

He pushed the men's room door open and stepped casually inside. As he turned the corner from the restroom entryway he was immediately greeted by a crowd of people standing in a semicircle around a nude figure that was kneeling on the tiled floor. Duo counted five men in total. The four men standing were without pants and in various states of arousal. He realized he had walked into something he shouldn't have and stumbled backward in surprise. Something caught his arm and spun him around. He dropped his bag in surprise and gawked as he found himself face to face with the biggest, hairiest guy he had ever seen. The man's face was completely occluded by thick, bushy eyebrows and an unruly black mustache and beard. He saw a flash of white teeth through the tangle of hair as the bear of a man grabbed him by the throat and picked him up by it.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in! Lady you picked the wrong bathroom." The mountain spoke in a low, gravely voice. Duo coughed as he was choked and reflexively kicked his foot out. The blow landed square against the man's stomach. His attacker flinched and dropped him to the floor, apparently not expecting him to fight back. Duo landed in a crouch and scrambled away from the enormous figure. The half-dressed men were all shuffling around in confusion. Some were trying to pull their clothes on while others were rushing toward him with angry expressions. The guy who was on his knees on the floor was just staring at Duo in shock.

"Grab that bitch!" The hairy beast hollered, his voice stimulating the others to act. They turned to rush at him with outstretched arms.

Duo jumped to his feet and darted to the rear of the bathroom to take refuge in the handicap stall. His shaking hands fumbled with the latch to lock it. A small window that served as a vent was cracked open near the ceiling. He climbed onto the toilet and reached up in attempt to gain a handhold on the window's ledge. He could hear the din of the men behind him yelling and calling out to one another, kicking at the door in an attempt to break it down. He slipped on the wet porcelain of the toilet seat, his booted feet dropping into the water.

"Shit! Come on!" He yelled as he reached desperately for the window's ledge again only to graze it with his fingertips. The stall door behind him splintered off of its hinges, allowing the flood of assailants to spill into the stall. Duo felt their many hands roughly grasping at him and soon he had been pulled down from his perch and into the writhing, angry mob of people. He swung his arms and kicked his legs as hard as he could, making contact with anything and anyone within striking distance. He could hear the pained grunts and gasps from the bodies that had fallen victim to his blows.

"Let me go, you sick motherfuckers!" He screamed. His deep voice in contrast to his pretty female appearance caused a few of the men to let him go. He used their shock to his advantage and donkey kicked the man who was standing directly behind him, sending him flying back into the toilet. He ducked as someone else reached out to grab him, evaded the grasping hand and rolled across the floor and out of the stall. He ran as hard as he could for the door. Only three strides into his retreat he was he yanked back by his hair. He lost his balance and fell back onto the floor at the foot of the line of urinals. The hard, abrupt landing had knocked the wind out of him. He gasped mutely as the beast man dropped onto him to pin him to the floor.

"So you're a guy, huh? Came in here to join our fun did you?" The creature grumbled with a wide, shit-eating grin. Duo scowled and swung his arm up to knock the look off of the guy's face but a second assailant had positioned himself over his head to pin his arms against the tile. The second man forced his knees roughly against Duo's wrists.

"Feisty little shit, isn't he?" The bear grumbled as he reached down to grope him. "Ooooh, for such a cute little boy, you certainly have a lot to offer don't you?"

"Fuck… you…" Duo managed to squeak through pained gasps. The grotesque man laughed and in response had reached up to gather the length the decorative bow around his neck. He began to twist it like a garrote, tightening it to choke off what little breath Duo had. His eyes began to swim with dark splotches. He looked over at the other three men who were standing nearby. One was smiling darkly, while the other two appeared to be disturbed at what they were seeing. Nobody made any move to help him.

"Okay, who wants to go first? No takers? Fine you pussies. I'll show you how to really teach someone a lesson," the hairy man said as he pawed at hiss body with a meaty hand. The hand froze mid-motion as the sound of a gunshot echoed against the cinderblock walls. Through his distorted vision Duo could see the wavy, blurred image of his assailant's face.

(**** **** **** ****)

The man's eyes turned white as his eyes rolled to look into the back of his head. His face had gone slack with death and his grip on the garrote had loosened, giving Duo his breath back. The hairy, dead face remained hovering above him as a second gunshot sent vibrations through the air around them. The guy who had been kneeling on his wrists fell limply to the side. The other three men in the restroom were yelling and ducking away to hide. Finally the dead face in front of him shifted and as his vision clarified he could see Heero standing over him, holding the hair at the back of the dead man's head. He watched as Heero tossed his attacker to the side, sending the man falling onto a lifeless heap on the floor. The expression on his partner's face was chilling. His normally cool, calm and collected expression had been replaced by an intense, angry and dark mask. His eyebrows were gathered together and his eyes were narrowed in an expression that Duo could only describe as pure homicidal hatred.

Part Three

Heero had heard the sound of his partner's voice coming from the bathroom and immediately knew something was wrong. He wasted no time bolting into the bathroom and the scene that greeted him was not one he had expected to see. Duo had been pinned down on the ground by a giant man and a half-naked guy while other men were standing in observation nearby.

The sight of his partner lying helpless on the ground, his clothes askew, long hair spilling over the dirty tile floor had plunged him into the darkest, forbidden crevasse of his mind. He had felt the deadbolt of his brain suddenly click loose to allow the door of his hidden rage to slam open. He had shot Duo's larger attacker in the back of the neck without even realizing he had done it. The second kill had come as abruptly as the first.

He couldn't feel the gun in his hands. He felt strangely detached, as if he had been pushed out of the way to make room for something else. Someone else. He felt like he was floating over the scene. He felt like a spectral third person observing the slaughter as his body coldly went to work disposing of every living thing in the restroom. Once the final enemy's body fell to the floor he felt the magnetic pull of his person calling to him. As his consciousness descended back into his body he slipped through an electrical storm of memory. Facts and truths started to stab into his consciousness like needles, leaving their permanent imprint on his mind.

 _Relena was standing on the beach. Duo saved him from the Alliance hospital. Duo helped him get his suit from the ocean. He danced with Relena. He saved her life. He met Wufei, Quatre and Trowa for the first time at New Edward's Base. He had killed Field Marshall Noventa and the other pacifists. He stopped the base from exploding. He battled Zechs in Tallgeese. Self detonated Wing out of desperation. Trowa had saved him and Catherine had helped him recover. Sylvia Noventa wouldn't kill him. Antarctica… he fought Zechs with Trowa's suit. He was losing, but then Relena came._

 _Relena…_

He could see her face. He could feel her presence. He dropped to his knees and became painfully aware of the gun gripped tightly in his hand. The distinctive coppery smell of blood was flooding the room. He could see Duo pushing himself to a wobbly stand. His partner had started approaching him with upturned hands. Heero could see his lips moving but he couldn't hear his words.

He reflexively jumped up and before he could stop himself he had pointed the gun at his partner. He could see that his own arm was shaking. His ears were full of pressure and the only sound he could discern was his own heartbeat mixed with his raspy, shaking breath.

Duo stopped his slow approach as the pistol was pointed at him. Heero saw him drop his hands to his sides. He muttered something, smirked and then closed his eyes.

Heero's mind was racing as the undeniable sensation of _déjà_ vu enveloped him. _I've done this before…_

He was no longer standing in a park bathroom but in a darkened jail cell. Duo was still standing in front of him but rather than wearing Hilde's clothes he was dressed in his old black outfit and white priest collar. His eyes were closed and his face was tilted up as if saying goodbye to his God.

Heero's memories of the situation were now intact. He had learned that the Deathscythe pilot had attempted to self-destruct from a mission brief he had received through a secure connection. He saw that Duo was being kept hostage by the Alliance. His face and images of his Gundam were being paraded across every news channel to muster support for the Alliance efforts and to inspire hatred against the terrorism that the Gundams supposedly stood for. At the time the decision had been easy to make. He was going to finish Duo Maxwell off. The Deathscythe pilot was a liability. He no longer had possession of his mobile suit. It was possible that he could leak information through interrogation that could endanger the rest of them. He had seen their faces, knew their names. He had to kill him. His decision had been encouraged by his mission coordinators. Heero had gone out to find him, broke into his cell and prepared to finish the job that Duo himself had started by attempting to self-destruct in the first place.

He couldn't do it. There had been something about the other pilot standing in the face of death with a smile that simply intrigued him. Duo Maxwell had won his respect and admiration that day.

Now he was reliving the moment. Once again the former Deathscythe pilot was showing no fear at the coming of death. His finger trembled against the trigger.

He knew that he could never kill Duo Maxwell. He was too important to him. He loved him.

The gun fell from his hand as every muscle in his body went limp. His vision faded to black just before his body could make contact with the floor.

* * *

* New Mobile Report: Gundam Wing - Episode 33, "The Lonely Battlefield". "Mind if I sit beside you?" Relena says this to Heero when they sit together to talk on a park bench.

** Sally Margaret Field is an American film and television actress and director. Field began her career in television, starring on the sitcoms Gidget and The Flying Nun. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in her role as Norma Rae.

^* "Back In Black" is a song by AC/DC.  
"Back in black  
I hit the sack  
I've been too long I'm glad to be back  
Yes, I'm let loose  
From the noose  
That's kept me hanging about"


	22. Chapter 22

Ch 22

 _ **In local news: authorities have found the bodies of two men in the Oak Hill Public Park restroom tonight. Alonzo Garcia and Rex Adams were found dead with gunshot wounds around ten o'clock after authorities were alerted that two men attacked a group of Rugby players who had been practicing at that park earlier in the evening. The other members of the team are now in L2 Uptown Regional Hospital in critical condition…**_

"Rugby players? Yeah, okay…" Duo grumbled as he turned off the hotel room's small television set and looked down at the laptop on the coffee table in front of him. After a quick search he found that Alonzo Garcia and Rex Adams were members of the Onyx Cross gang, and both had served time for sexual assault, rape and various other related offenses.

Duo knew plenty about the Onyx Cross. He had a few friends in the gang when it first began to develop out of the Underground when he was just a kid. Eventually the group had split off of the Underground entirely to form their own group, which was now notorious for gang related sexual crime. Duo wondered if the guy in the bathroom was part of the group, or a victim like he had almost been. Unfortunately for that guy he ended up in his partner's crosshairs.

He glanced over his shoulder to the bed behind him where Heero was sleeping and frowned. Heero had killed those two men in cold blood, and he knew that when he woke up his partner may have trouble accepting it. It was hard to tell with him, what with all of his memories muddled up. As far as Duo could tell currently Heero had no problem killing anyone. He hadn't opposed carrying a gun on their infiltration mission, and clearly he hadn't hesitated to use it. He even pointed it at him, though he was pretty sure that his partner had been caught up in some serious anxiety and confusion by that point.

He checked the status of the data transfer to Lennon and saw that it would still take another fifteen minutes to complete. He stood up and decided to take a shower. He had changed into his normal clothes before carrying his partner to the hotel, but he didn't get a chance to wash the makeup and the obscene amount of hairspray Hilde had put in his hair. He smirked as he crossed the room and hopped into the bathroom and started stripping. The look on the cleaning lady's face when she saw him carrying limp girl-Heero up the stairs had been priceless. He was pretty sure that the woman thought he had slipped Heero a roofie* and was going to take him to his room to have his way with him. He had expected the cops to show up at the door, but it had been an hour and nobody had come so he figured he was probably safe.

He turned on the water and waited for it to get scalding hot before hopping under the stream. He scrubbed at his face in an attempt to wipe away all of the chaos from his mind. He was having trouble thinking straight, and despite how tired he was his mind was moving a mile a minute.

He was worried. He was worried about the ESUN and their involvement with the Underground. He was worried about his friend Paul. Did Heero kill him? If he was alive, was he going to be okay living there in the Underground with Miles while he ruled like a sick and disgusting sexual dictator? He was worried about the other guys back on the Lennon having to operate without a functioning mobile suit. He was worried about Hilde and her relationship with that guy Alex. Was she really happy? Was she being abused? If that guy did anything to hurt her he would kill him, resurrect him, and then kill his ass again. He was worried about the state of the world, and the prospect of Total Peace. He was worried they wouldn't be able to find the Gundam hidden here on L2. He was worried about the Maxwell Church monument, and whether people would forget about how the first people he had ever loved died so tragically.

He forced his face into the burning waterfall of the shower and tried to blast the thoughts aside but they just wouldn't budge.

 _What about Heero… is he ever gonna remember me? Does it even matter anymore?_

Was Heero going to be okay? What happened to him in the bathroom at the park? Duo wasn't certain, but he had a feeling Heero was experiencing some sort of convoluted shell shock**. He had experienced plenty of similar reactions in his lifetime, though he never considered himself to have full out PTSD. When they were first brought into Preventer they all had been put through thorough psychological testing and as far as he knew everyone he worked with had been cleared, but he couldn't he too sure.

He reluctantly turned off the water and began drying off. As he did he checked himself in the foggy mirror and saw the scars on his body from various events in his own life. Circular burn marks on his upper arm from when the older kids used to hold him down to force lit cigarettes into his skin. The scar on the back of his thigh from when he had been shot on X-18999. The short inch-long shallow dent in his left temple under his bangs where he had been struck in the head by an OZ soldier while in interrogation. Various dings and nicks on his elbows and knees from seeing action, hand to hand combat, and sneaking around. The faint line on his right jaw where he had been held at knife-point by members of a rival gang when he was only ten, and then sexually assaulted by three other older boys before being left in the gutter…

He frowned and stared at his naked self in the mirror and watched as the water vapor gradually lifted from the glass to reveal who he was now. He had been through so much in his life, and sometimes he wondered what the point of it all was. He knew that if he didn't have something else to live for, or someone or something to fight for, that he would have just ended his own suffering a long time ago.

He didn't fear God, and he wasn't scared to go to Hell for killing himself if things came to that. He just knew that he couldn't. Not now, not when so many people needed him. He couldn't let Hilde hurt the way he had hurt when he lost the people he loved. He would never put that pain on anyone, not even his worst enemy.

He wrapped a towel around his waist and absently braided his hair as he padded out into the dimly lit hotel room. He found himself automatically studying Heero's naked, sleeping form. He had managed to get the other pilot undressed and into the bed when they had first arrived and Heero hadn't moved since. He let his eyes scan him and search for a sign that he was breathing. As if on cue the former Wing pilot sighed in his sleep, his side lifting and falling faintly beneath the white blanket.

Duo carefully made his way to his bag and tugged on a pair of red boxer briefs before rummaging through his partner's bag for his FLACC player. He found it tucked in the pocket of the jeans Heero had been wearing before Hilde had transformed him into a lady. He popped the earbuds into his ears and let his fingers slip through the menu to the bottom playlist in a way he had done at least a thousand times before. He hit play and the single piano note in A flat pressed into his ear, followed by the engaging voice of Freddie Mercury. The uplifting choir of voices caressed his mind and forced his rampant thoughts to step in line and straighten out. He checked the door to make sure it was locked, grabbed his gun from his bag and set it on the nightstand before slipping slowly into the bed beside his sleeping friend. Heero's back was facing him and he still hadn't stirred. Duo set the song to repeat and put the player under the pillow before burying his face into the cool, soft cotton. He let loose a long sigh and tried to force himself to relax and just let his brain sync with the music. He didn't want to think about this shit anymore.

Freddie Mercury's powerful, emotionally driven performance of "Somebody to Love" was one he found that no matter what he was feeling or going through would narrow the vast plane of his thoughts and make him focus on a single feeling. He didn't need to be cheered up or distracted right now. He needed to deal with it, analyze it and then put it away.

 _What am I feeling right now?_

He let the clapping hands in the song quell the chaos in his mind and force the reigning emotion to the surface.

 _Alone. I'm alone._

He felt alone. Despite the fact that he was lying next to Heero he felt completely alone in everything that was happening to them. His partner didn't know who he was, aside from the short time they had spent together on this mission and the few days beforehand. It was clear that his partner had researched his past, but he didn't know the real him. He suspected that Heero was acting off of instinct when it came to being with him, whether it was sexual or perhaps some residual feeling left over from his former self. He didn't know anything about how difficult their mutual past had been, or the shit they had to endure for the sake of others. That had been one of the few things that had brought them together: their joined understanding of the world, and the sacrifices they both had made for peace.

He didn't have Hilde. Sure, he could talk to her, but simple things like hugging and jokes now were off limits because of her new guy. He felt cut off, as if his only lifeline and security blanket had been snipped away by that fucking asshole boyfriend of hers. He knew that any more correspondence with her would be awkward and he wouldn't be able to really be himself with her while she continued seeing Alex.

He didn't have the memorial for Maxwell Church anymore. He hadn't realized how much it bothered him until now. He had put a lot of money and effort into the thing. It had been his way of coping with the loss. He thought that by putting his energy into memorializing the people who had needlessly died there that it would help him heal. Apparently the gesture had meant more to him than he had originally thought and now that it was gone he felt like an old scab had been picked away to allow his old heartache to seep back up to the surface.

He no longer knew his old friends. Not that they really mattered, but the idea that what little that was left of his past had essentially died with Miles and Paul the other day really bugged him. He didn't have the greatest childhood, and certainly it was wrought with hardship and abuse, but it was still a part of him. He couldn't believe how wronged and betrayed he had felt when Miles had given him that pill. He would have rather the guy shot him than attempt to manipulate him.

The song had looped four times over and still continued to play. Now that he the root of his feelings had been agitated to the surface he was feeling the full force of it crushing his chest.

 _I'm alone. I'll always be alone, so I guess this is how it's gotta be._

His throat was tightening. He swallowed hard against it and felt the inevitable burning of his eyes that always seemed to follow. He pressed his face harder into the pillow and could see nothing but the barrel of Heero's gun pointing at him playing over and over again in his mind.

That had bothered him worse than anything and only proved to him that despite his partner's attack on the men in the bathroom to save him, they were still not where they had been over a month ago. Duo couldn't help but continue to mourn the Heero had had lost. Things had been comfortable then. He didn't have to explain himself, or hold himself back with Heero before now. He didn't have to read into his partner's face. Their relationship had evolved over time into a symbiotic unit that didn't need much effort to survive. Now Duo felt cut off and starved for attention. He felt empty.

 _God giveth… and God fucking taketh away… Story of my life…_

The song had looped again, but this time the words began to sting as they slipped through his ears.

" _Ooh, each morning I get up I die a little  
Can barely stand on my feet  
(Take a look at yourself) Take a look in the mirror and cry (and cry)  
Lord what you're doing to me (yeah yeah)  
I have spent all my years in believing you  
But I just can't get no relief, Lord!  
Somebody (somebody) ooh somebody (somebody)  
Can anybody find me somebody to love?"_

He caught a sob as it tried to escape his throat and immediately swallowed it back. His chest ached like someone had been using his heart as a stress ball. He tipped his head to the side and sucked in an unsteady breath as he forced his body to relax the muscles it had been winding throughout his internal assessment. He was exhausted. He needed to sleep, especially if they were going to look for the Gundam tomorrow.

He let the song flow and ebb over his mind as it began to gradually shut down. He felt the bed shift beside him and assumed that Heero was just adjusting himself in his sleep. He nearly jumped out of the bed at the sensation of a hand sliding over his hip. He yanked his face out of the pillow and flipped over to sit upright. Heero had rolled over to face him and he saw that his dark cobalt eyes were open and glistening wide in the darkness. Duo pulled one of his earbuds from his ear.

"Holy shit, Heero. You scared the fuck out of me," he said breathlessly. He put his hand over his heart in an attempt to calm its sudden tachycardia. His partner's face was a flat and emotionless. "You okay, man?" Duo asked hesitantly. He saw Heero's hand lift and slide out from under the blanket to reach over and grab the tip of his braid that had been resting against his exposed waist. He had forgotten to tie the braid off and it had started to unravel itself at its end. His partner pulled his hair firmly, forcing his face to drop closer.

"Lie down," Heero instructed tersely. Duo blinked and sighed before flopping down onto his back beside him. Heero had released his hair and was grabbing at the hand Duo was holding the earbud with. He relinquished it and watched Heero pop it into his ear. His partner's eyes narrowed at the sound of the song's chorus repeating "Find Me Somebody To Love" over and over again to the urgent pounding of drums. He suddenly felt very insecure and embarrassed about the music he was listening to. It was something he hadn't felt before. The song ended and looped over again. Heero didn't move. He glanced over to see the Japanese man staring into the darkness of the room beyond while they both were regaled by Queen's powerful voices and electric guitar solos. Three fourths of the way through Duo felt Heero slip closer to him and by the end of the song the other pilot had wrapped his arm over the top of his chest. He could feel the former Wing pilot's breath against the side of his neck as the song restarted on loop.

Duo frowned and felt his eyes burning again. He didn't want this. He didn't want to play the game with this other Heero. Not tonight. He didn't have it in him, and for once in his life he wasn't in the mood. He was just about to pry the other pilot's arm off of him when Heero's lips brushed against his open ear.

"The best engineers in the world couldn't repair machines without parts,***" Heero's silky, low voice murmured into the hollow shell of his ear. His partner's voice forced goosebumps to the surface of the skin on Duo's shoulder and neck. His eyes widened as the statement hit home.

 _Oh… my God…_

"W… what did you say? Wait… you... " Duo was fumbling his words. He sat up to pull away from Heero and gawked at him. "Did you just say… you remember that?!"

Heero pushed himself up to a sit and nodded his head slowly. "Yes," he replied.

"W… what's the last thing you remember?" Duo asked hesitantly.

"We destroyed Battleship Libra, and I saved the Earth." Heero said in matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh, is that all you did?" he said with a smile. He knew that meant Heero was still missing a lot, but it was a start. He remembered Operation Meteor, which meant that he would remember all of the other pilots, too. He would remember Relena and how they had met and all that he had done for her as well.

Duo was so happy he could cry. And then he did. All of his confusion and emotions from before had manifested into tears that began plotting various courses down his hardened, happy protective mask. He sniffed loudly and rubbed one of his tear-clouded eyes with a palm.

"Fuck... " Duo muttered, feeling hot with embarrassment at his sudden sign of weakness. His partner was watching him closely for a few moments before his expression softened at the sight of his tears. He felt Heero's hands grab his shoulders and before he could protest or try to play the tough guy the Japanese man had forced him into a tight hug. The gesture was enough to break his defenses and before he knew it he was sobbing. He buried his face into the skin of Heero's shoulder and wept with relief that finally something was going his way.

* * *

Footnotes:

* "Roofie": Flunitrazepam, also known as Rohypnol among others, is an intermediate acting benzodiazepine used in some countries to treat severe insomnia and in fever, early in anesthesia. Commonly called the "date rape drug".

** "Shell Shock": _Shell shock_ is a phrase coined in World War I to described the type of PTSD many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD itself was a term).

*** Gundam Wing Episode 04: "The Victoria Nightmare"- (Ext. Howard's Crane Ship docked at a coastal warehouse facility. Gundam Deathscythe and Wing Gundam are both in various stages of repair inside the warehouse facility. Heero is perched on top of Wing's cockpit hatch and running diagnostic programs on a computer when Duo approaches from across the floor.)  
Heero: "Insulation section 2600: repairs are possible."  
Duo: "Hey, you! I'm calling you! You won't even acknowledge our help? Here I am… Mr. Nice Guy offering to fix your mobile suit with mine, but you just brush me right off!"  
Heero: "I don't want anybody touching my mobile suit. That's all, pal."  
Duo: "Well, that's a joke; you haven't even got the parts. The best engineers in the world couldn't repair machines without the parts. Mechanics need parts for repair; not like you with your leg. Ya see what I'm saying?"

* * *

/AN: *wavies* Thanks for all the kind comments, guys! It's what helps keep me going. That and an obscene amount of cold brew coffee... ;)/


	23. Chapter 23

Part One

Duo could tell through Heero's body language how much he had changed in just the few hours since the fight in the park. Heero was moving with self-assurance and was having no problem figuring out just what Duo needed him to do, which was just further evidence that he had regained his rudimentary memories from the past.

The former Wing pilot was straddling him on the bed with his face pressed against his upper chest and left shoulder so that all Duo could see was his partner's thick, messy brown hair and the top of his defined back. He ran his fingers through Heero's silky, chocolate hair and reveled in the sensation of the weight of his partner's hips against his own.

Heero was manipulating two of his most reactive trigger zones with focused proficiency. He allowed himself to groan freely as the former Wing pilot sucked and nipped the skin over his clavicle while rubbing his right nipple with the calloused pad of his thumb. Each circular caress against his now very hardened nipple inspired his back to perform an involuntary arch. He dug his fingers deeper into Heero's hair and grabbed it roughly to brace himself against the inevitable earthquake of energy that forced his body into a frustrated and uncontrollable tremble.

"Fuck, I missed you…" Duo forced the words through gritted teeth. His partner responded with a firm bite into the side of his neck. He felt Heero smirk against his skin before pinching his tender flesh between his teeth and applying hard suction. In doing so he managed to pull more lust from Duo's belly up to the surface. He could feel his face growing hot and his lips start to tingle as his partner assaulted his neck and continued to casually stir his passions with his left thumb.

"You were behaving yourself," Heero mumbled quietly against his neck between bites and licks.

"Yeah, give me some credit. I didn't think I had it in me," Duo said with a chuckle. "Trust me, I thought about messing you up. Constantly."

"I wish you had," Heero said faintly. Duo blinked and then scowled.

"Seriously? I tried to do the right thing and not rape the shit out of virgin you, and this is the thanks that I get?" Duo grumbled. His complaints were interrupted by Heero rubbing his crotch hard against his own. He involuntarily gasped and began wondering what was he mad about. "Damn you."

Duo had forgotten how aggressive Heero used to be while they had a casual relationship. Heero had figured him out by then and had gotten comfortable with the idea that their sex was merely for mutual benefit. Duo was sure that there had been some level of trust building somewhere in there, too, but he didn't think that Heero harbored any romantic feelings for him during that time. Duo knew that he had started to feel deeper emotions for the Wing pilot shortly before the end of Operation Meteor but Heero had never given any indication that those feelings were reciprocated.

Duo had been okay with that progression at the time. His own feelings for his partner had been put on the back burner while Heero went off to stalk and protect Relena. That was when he started seriously dating Hilde. Eventually they met up again and were partnered off during Preventer, where his feelings had slowly begun to resurface with every mission they took. He had been available, but Heero still was involved with Relena at the time so he hadn't acted on any of it. It wasn't until meeting up with Heero again after Duo had left Preventer that he really began exploring his own romantic feelings for the other pilot. The love train had really started chugging fast by then, only to have to screech to a stop a short time later when Heero went into cryo.

Duo sighed. He had waited an entire year for the guy only to have the system he had been reporting to in that time attack him. His eyes widened at the thought.

Was he the reason for the nanomachine attack? He hadn't connected to Aurora for any more reports after Heero's return. It was an artificial intelligence program, so it stood to reason that it had the potential to react negatively to Heero interrupting their daily connection and bonding, right? It suddenly all made sense. He pushed Heero's shoulders back and saw his partner's eyes widen in confusion as he was forced away.

"It was jealous! It attacked you because I stopped talking to it!"

Heero's eyes narrowed and his face hardened a fraction. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that Aurora attacked you because of me! Holy shit… why didn't I think about this before?" Duo's mind was racing. Was that why the program wouldn't leave the BIOS of Gundam Snow White? Had it become sentient and was refusing to be counted out? Duo didn't know too much about that kind of technology, but he had read plenty of science fiction novels to know that anything was possible when it came to artificial intelligence. He had bonded with the system every day for the year that Heero had been gone. He had confided everything to it: data, reports, feelings and emotions. He had even told it that he loved it.

"I told it." Duo's lips parted in shock and his body began to grow cold at the thought that his actions had potentially hurt Aurora. He knew he shouldn't feel that way. It was just a program, but at the core it was still a part of his partner. It was the culmination of Heero's abilities, skills, thoughts and now he assumed that feelings were in there, too.

Why else would it attack him? Technologically it made no sense. It hadn't been given any prompts. The scientists couldn't find a glitch or any errors that would have caused the nanomachines to focus their attack on Heero. When Duo had grabbed the former Wing pilot while he was being attacked the machines had dispersed.

 _It didn't want to hurt me,_ Duo realized. His stomach filled with knotted dread. _Holy shit…_

"I gotta tell them," he blurted. He shoved Heero off of him and darted across the room to the laptop and hailed the Lennon on a secured connection. Heero had followed him and took a seat beside him on the small couch.

The screen flickered and Wufei's face appeared on the monitor. Duo saw the Chinese man blink a few times before his normally dark, narrowed eyes widened in surprise.

"Maxwell? Yuy!" Wufei turned his face away from the monitor and had covered his eyes with a hand. "What is the meaning of this?"

Duo raised an eyebrow at Wufei's reaction before realizing that he was completely naked. "Oh, shit! Heero, what the fuck?!"

"Don't blame me. You made the call." Heero said plainly. He made no move to cover himself up.

"Shit, Mantis! I'm sorry just… just wait a second…" he scrambled over to the bed and grabbed his underwear from under the covers and yanked them on hurriedly before snatching the entire blanket into his arms. He threw it over Heero's head before vaulting himself over the back of the couch to land heavily beside him.

"Sorry! Sorry… I really am sorry... but listen I gotta talk to you about something. It's really important!"

"Somehow I doubt that," Wufei said with a frown. He peered at them through his fingers before letting his hand drop from his face. Duo spotted a rosy blush on the other pilot's cheeks. "What is it?"

"You gotta set up ARMISTICE so I can connect to it when I get there," Duo explained quickly. He could see Heero pull the blanket off of his head out of the corner of his eye. "I think I know why it erased Heero's memories. Tell those crusty old scientists that I… well…" he felt his face burn with embarrassment. "I may have gotten attached to the A.I."

Wufei lifted a sleek eyebrow at him. "Meaning?"

Duo frowned and sighed with exasperation. "I told the thing I loved it, okay? I think it's jealous of Heero and that's why it wiped his memories."

The former Shenlong pilot smirked and Duo could see his shoulders shake with repressed laughter. "You honestly think that the artificial intelligence attacked Yuy because of what? Jealousy? Amorous feelings for you?"

"... yeah?" Duo replied lamely. "Hey, it could happen. You don't have any better ideas."

"Okay, Maxwell. Let's just say it _does_ have feelings for you or something, why on Earth would we connect you to it? You saw what it did to Yuy. What makes you think it won't do the same thing to you?"

Duo frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "It stopped attacking Heero when I jumped on him. If it wanted to kill me, it woulda done it, right?"

Wufei's lips pursed into a thin, thoughtful line. "Okay. I will propose the idea to Dr. J and Professor G, but I make no promises."

"Thanks, Mantis. You're the best, seriously." Duo said with a sigh, feeling relieved.

Wufei nodded and let his eyes dart from Duo to Heero before raising an eyebrow again. "How is he?"

"He got part of his memories back," Duo explained with a grin. "Let them know he knows everything up to Operation Meteor."

Wufei sighed. "Very well. I have also received the data from the transfer. Winner and Barton are working on it right now. They should send you a new mission outline within twenty-four hours. What is the status of the Gundam retrieval?"

"Actually Heero found something on that lady's desk. We're gonna go check it out later and see what it is. Could be the suit, who knows." Duo said excitedly. "Oh, and Mantis?"

Wufei's eye twitched at the code name. "Yes?"

"Move my rook to B1." Duo said with a smile as he recalled his planned moves in the turn-by-turn chess game on the ship. "And then take my next move against Trowa at your discretion."

Wufei's expression brightened at the prospect of completely annihilating someone at chess. "I will do that. Over and out."

The screen went black as the connection ended. Duo snapped the laptop closed and glared at Heero. "You really are an exhibitionist, aren't you?"

The Japanese pilot appeared nonplussed by his accusation, which was an admission as far as Duo was concerned. His partner sighed and reached out to grasp the back of his neck to pull him closer. He met him halfway and kissed him.

Part Two

Duo had accused him of being an exhibitionist and Heero had never seriously considered the idea before, so he decided to try it and see if it was true.

He looked down from the foot of the bed at Duo as he lie quivering and gasping on his back in front of him. His partner had only found his climax a minute before. Heero could feel the evidence of the deposit in his body dripping down the back of his thigh. He leaned down and grabbed Duo around the waist and yanked him up over his shoulder. The American pilot didn't fight him or question his motives, clearly too drunk with sensation to respond. He made his way to the hotel room picture window and yanked the curtain back with his free hand. A medium-sized grey lounge chair was positioned beneath it. He dumped him onto it and smirked as Duo stared up at him in wide-eyed surprise.

He grabbed his partner's hips and forced him to roll over onto his knees in the chair. Duo complied with an unfocused yet questioning gaze as he was turned over and made to face out the window. Heero sighed at the sight of the American's tightly muscled frame. He let his hands slide down his thick, firm trapezius muscles wrapped beneath smooth, cream colored flesh and felt him tremble beneath his fingertips. He couldn't help but pause to admire the body on display before him.

When he first encountered Duo he had never been in close contact with someone his own age before. Heero had always known that he was attracted to men, but he never had the chance to act on it. Other than his brief encounter with his clone he had always been the youngest object in the room with no peers or fellow soldiers to observe. When the Deathscythe pilot appeared and began casually touching him Heero had become very aware of just how attracted to other men he actually was. The other pilot had entrusted the pleasure of his body to him and it wasn't an honor that Heero took lightly.

He lifted his hands to his partner's shoulders again and this time when he dragged them over his firm muscles he scraped his nails across delicate skin and over the bright pink two inch scar at the base of his spine. He felt a sharp twinge of guilt at the sight of it. He saw the American shudder in response and drop his face to rest his forehead against the back of the chair. He let his nails continue their trek down to his ass where he pressed his palms firmly against his firm, taut roundness to part the path for his now very eager erection. He pressed into his partner incrementally, the residual lubrication from Duo's handling of him earlier facilitating his entry.

The other pilot shifted away from him at his intrusion. Heero grasped the top of his hips to prevent him from recoiling and paused for a moment to allow his partner to adjust. Duo's shoulders were heaving as he panted and he could feel his body twitching as it attempted to relax to allow his penetration. Heero leaned down to kiss his shoulder and grabbed his long, unraveling coil of braid to wrap it carefully around his fist. He held still and gently urged the other pilot to back onto him at his own pace. Duo obediently complied and soon Heero was plunged deeply into his tight, almost painfully hot core. He waited for a long moment before experimentally pushing against him. Duo groaned softly at the pressure, which only urged him on. He forced himself in as deeply as he could before slipping back. He fell into a comfortable rocking pace and tugged at the American's heavy braid to keep his lover moving in sync with his hips.

He reached up with the hand that had been resting on Duo's hip to grab him by the side of the neck and force his face up from the chair to look out of the window again. It was dark in the room and the kaleidoscope of greys and black mixed with the twinkling yellow lights of the colony beyond the glass revealed nothing but faint indiscernible shadows. Heero wasn't sure if he was turned on by the fact he was fucking his partner in front of an open window, or the fact that Duo was moaning pathetically with every perfectly timed thrust.

The angle he was forcing up at caused him to hit a wall of resistance within his partner, who suddenly collapsed his arms at the jab. Duo was shaking so hard that Heero thought he may have really hurt him. He pulled away for a moment before gently nudging the deep, hidden spot again. Duo moaned loudly and hung his head.

"Oh fuck… " his partner moaned weakly. Heero could see his elbows beginning to buckle. He decided to try again, knowing that Duo would stop him if he didn't like it. He gently pressed the spot within him and smirked as the American pilot leaned back against him. Heero had his answer. He grabbed Duo by the waist with his free hand and continued to sheath into him at an excruciatingly slow pace. He could feel his body reflexively tightening as he struck the spot within him over and over again. The now crushing constriction was almost too much for him to take and he could feel himself climbing to his pinnacle at breakneck speed, nearly reaching the summit of his pleasure.

"Uhhhnnnnnnnn uhhhnnnnnnnnnn…."

The sounds Duo was making were not of his usual low, throaty variety but rather unrestrained and high-pitched. Heero looked down at his lover's body propped up against him on the chair. He could see the faint pink traces left behind from his scratches against his back and the dark red splotches he had painted the side of his neck with. He realized that the thing he found hottest wasn't being able to do things while people could watch, but the idea that Duo Maxwell was his own and that nobody else could have him. He wanted other people to know that fact.

The thought fueled his climax to break through his barrier of control and with a final push he spilled into the moaning, shuddering body beneath him. He felt the uncomfortable tingle of the afterburn of release and moaned as the rush of energy stung every nerve in his body. It was the most intense release he could recall and he knew that it had been fueled by the idea that Duo Maxwell was unequivocally his.

* * *

(Woo! Took out the Richter scale because I started using it as a metaphor but then got lazy and busy talking about A.I. and didn't finish the escalation. Also, yeah I live in Southern California. We get earthquakes and they scare the crap out of me. ^^; *super glues everything to the shelves* Sorry for the confusion!)

* * *

/AN: Woo! Coffee fans! *pours us all cups* They finally did it! CHEERS! Next up, new mobile suits and lots of fight and excitement! Also, I really love Wufei. T_T He really needs more love I just gotta find the space to fit it in./


	24. Chapter 24

Ch 24

Duo was pretty sure that Heero had discovered his prostate the night before. He could still feel the indistinct discomfort deep within his pelvis from what he could only assume was internal bruising from being thoroughly fucked six ways from Sunday. It had been a while since he had played bottom. Not that he was complaining. It had been fucking amazing.

He crouched down carefully to peer through the permeable mesh floor of the maintenance catwalk to observe the disused metro line below. He could see two Underground lookouts huddled together passing a joint, unaware that they were being watched from twenty feet above. He glanced up at his partner who was standing beside him wearing a pair of black acid wash jeans, Motörhead* t-shirt and black jacket that he had loaned him. Heero could have passed for a normal college student except that his face had been galvanized with trademark cool and intense focus, indicating to Duo that he was definitely in "mission mode"**. He doubted even the most dedicated graduate students ever looked that serious.

He scanned the area for any more warm bodies but found none. He looked up at his partner again to nod and give him the okay. Heero's eyes narrowed and before Duo could even climb over the catwalk railing the former Wing pilot had launched himself over the side. He watched him drop like a bomb feet first to the concrete floor below and land in a crouch behind the unsuspecting targets. When he straightened to a stand the two young men in front of him folded to the ground as they fell victim to Heero's fists expertly applied to the backs of their necks. Duo sighed and decided to take the good old fashioned ladder approach. He shifted the black leather hip bag*** that housed his sneak kit^* around his waist to rest at his lower back before quickly descending the chilled metal rungs.

As he made his way to where Heero was searching the bodies of his prone, blacked out victims he spotted the joint they had been sharing nearby. He grinned and snatched it from the ground and put it to his lips as if to take a hit and saw that Heero was glaring at him.

"Jeez, lighten up, I was just kiddin'." Duo said with a chuckle. He tossed the joint to the ground and crushed it with the toe of his boot. He knew that the last thing he needed right now was the anxiety that the THC in marijuana could force into his brain. His accelerated thoughts and weed just never got along. "Find anything?"

Heero shook his head and stood up. He saw a reference number stenciled on a metal panel that read "UTL188" which meant that they were getting close. Duo gestured further down the metro line in the direction of their destination.

"Should be only half a klick^^ ahead," Duo said quietly as he fell into step behind Heero. He saw his partner pull the the .45 caliber pistol he had loaned him from the holster tucked into his waistband ^^^ and an LED flashlight from his jacket pocket. He held the pistol in front of him with his elbow bent so that the barrel was pointed up and began moving forward with his body turned slightly to the left while holding the off flashlight in his left hand. Duo couldn't help but smile at the sight of his partner doing what he did best: Rambo^` shit. He stopped for a moment to crouch and snatch his compact Glock from his ankle holster before jogging to fall back in line with his partner as he led the way through the dimly lit tunnel. The utility catwalks were no longer accessible at this point which had forced them to drop down to the level of the metro line where they would be more visible. Duo knew that if something important was at the coordinates Heero had found that they would be encountering more resistance as they neared it. He wasn't sure what they would be fighting to see, but he hoped it was something good.

The tunnel gradually got darker as they neared the UTL191 stencil on the wall. The yellow 'UTL' served as a marker for the colony to send workers to a specific area for maintenance. Now that they had found the spot they were looking for they needed to descend to the twenty-second level to reach their target point. The metro line operated at the seventeenth level so they still had quite a ways to go.

Through the thickening darkness Duo was finding it difficult to see any details on the walls or floor. He recalled seeing hatches on the ground beneath the stenciled markings in previous areas so he knelt to the floor to inspect it. Heero had taken a protective stance over him and was scanning his pistol throughout the darkened tunnel. Duo knew that he wouldn't turn the LED flashlight on unless it was absolutely necessary, otherwise they would needlessly expose their position to any eyes further down the metro line. He was groping the ground searching for anything raised when he felt a metal panel materialize beneath his fingertips. He traced its edge and found a raised button. He pressed it and stepped away as a hatch popped open just enough for him to force his fingers under it. He pulled it back to to reveal a square black, unlit hole with a ladder built into the cement walls.

Duo holstered his pistol, put on his insulated fitted leather gloves and retrieved his infrared flashlight and detection goggles from his hip pack. He slid the goggles over his eyes, clicked on the IR flashlight^`` and plunged himself down into the hole. He didn't think twice about descending into the darkness. He had spent most of his childhood lurking around in the shadows and hiding from the light.

 _There's nothing to fear in the darkness … except me,_ he thought with a wicked grin as he took the ladder one rung at a time.

They worked their way silently through the freezing cold levels without encountering a single obstruction which Duo considered a red flag. He had broken into a wide variety of places in his lifetime, and to walk so easily into something that had the potential to be so valuable was a bad sign. Unless what they were looking for had no value at all. He stopped moving down the ladder and reached up to tap Heero's ankle to get his attention. His partner stopped.

Duo sidled over on the ladder to allow Heero to lower down to share the same rung. He knew that Heero intended to combine their body heats so once he was close enough Duo casually leaned against him to allow their thermal energies to mingle while they were stationary. It was something they had often done while working together during Operation Meteor.

"Let me go first to check for surveillance or sensors," he said quietly, hearing his own voice echo into his ear as it was fed through Heero's earpiece. He could see his partner's face illuminated in the violet IR light. He was staring blindly in his direction, his face placid and patient. Duo could smell Heero's sharp, coppery scent and hear his soft, even breathing. He was clutching his pistol and hanging tightly to the ladder with his bare hands and in that moment Duo thought he looked absolutely gorgeous. Duo couldn't help himself and before he could think better of it he leaned in to kiss his partner quickly on the corner of his serious mouth. He saw Heero tense as his lips suddenly came in contact with him but then nearly lost his grip on the ladder rung as Heero's weapon hand knocked into the back of his head to force his face forward. Somehow his partner had managed to zero in on his mouth in the pitch blackness. He sighed happily against the other pilot's cool mouth before pulling away reluctantly to continue down the ladder.

He was surprised that Heero had kissed him on a mission. He had never allowed any exchanges like that during assignments while they were together during Operation Meteor. Duo felt a flicker of hope illuminate within him as he made his way downward. Heero may have lost his memories, and he may have been slowly regaining them, but he had a feeling that despite what facts his partner _knew_ , the feelings they had spent so long developing and building together were still somehow locked inside him.

Duo believed that wholeheartedly. He also felt that on a cellular level his body could recognize Heero. Maybe it was voodoo, or the Newtype thing, or just wishful thinking but he always felt like he could tell when Heero was around. He could recognize his energy anywhere, even without ever having to see him.

 _Or maybe I'm just insane…_ Duo mused as he passed into the next level. He stopped and cast the light down to check for anything further along the tunnel. Sure enough he spotted a pair of detection sensors approximately ten feet below him. He inched closer and recognized that they were hardwired heat sensors. He dug around in his bag to retrieve a pack of gum and two old USD nickels.

He knew blocking the sensors wouldn't be a problem. The method he would use was a little wacky but always worked. It had been a technique that Miles had taught him years ago when he was only a kid. The heat sensors were approximately the same size as the nickels so all he had to do was chew up some gum, stick a nickel in the center of the wad and let it cool to an ambient temperature before forcing it over the sensor to block it. The cold metal of the nickel would block its ability to detect him as he crawled past it. He did it with practiced ease, smirking down at his handiwork before calling up to Heero through his earpiece.

"Okay, come on. We're almost there, just one more level to go."

As they reached the twenty-second level Duo's goggles fogged over with the warmth of his breath as the surrounding temperature plummeted. They were now very close to the colony's outer wall and therefore more susceptible to the bitter cold of space.

Through the fog he saw that his goggles also were washed with bright white light, indicating that visible light was being cast from below. He stopped and pushed the goggles up to the top of his head and pocketed the flashlight. He could hear two distinct voices speaking from below them. He peered down and saw that the ladder extended out of the ceiling of the twenty-second level and all the way to the floor. He could see the shadow of a figure moving across the cement floor beneath them. He tensed and waited until it passed before inching down as close to the opening as he dared without chancing detection in an attempt to catch the conversation.

"... bring on… nobody will… "

"She doesn't know."

Duo narrowed his eyes as if to help amplify the sound below him.

"They were gone by the time I got back, and she said she didn't know where they went. They have to still be on the colony. The CPD has no trace of them, but they did say there was a disturbance on Formic's floor in the Free Trade building. Some teenager or something, but who knows? Could have been them. We're on it, though."

Duo felt his chest tighten as he realized who the voice belonged to. He looked up and saw that Heero was glaring down at him, apparently having made the same realization that he had.

He saw the enormous shadow pass across the floor again, but this time he knew that it belonged to Alex. They had to be talking about Hilde, and just the thought of her being in the middle of anything that had to do with that scumball made the hairs on the back of Duo's neck stand on end. He wanted to do something. He wanted to drop down onto the guy's head and beat him to a bloody pulp. Who the fuck was he? Why was he talking about Hilde like that. What was down there, and why the hell was he down there with it? What did he have to do with any of this? Clearly he was looking for them. Was he part of the ESUN? Was he working for Formic or her contact?

The whole situation was fucked. Duo scowled and saw Heero inching up the ladder again away from the opening. He knew that they needed to discuss what was happening but he didn't know if he had it in him to move away from the source of his anger. He found himself staring down into the light below and plotting what he would do when he landed on his feet. Heero had managed to move up the ladder a significant distance away before Duo could hear his voice speak into his ear.

"Come here," Heero said firmly. Duo scowled. They had come so far, and he wanted to know what was down there. It could be the Gundam for all he knew. He reluctantly climbed up to meet Heero in the darkness. He stopped just below him and clutched the steel bars of the ladder rungs with trembling hands. His body was shaking with anger. He didn't bother pushing his infrared goggles down or using his flashlight to try to see his partner's face. He didn't want to feel judged for being weak or not knowing what to do. During Operation Meteor Heero used to come off like a condescending prick, and Duo just didn't want to be triggered by his hard, unforgiving mission face.

He felt Heero drop a couple of rungs until he was holding on beside him again. He could feel the heat from his partner's body as he pressed into his side. Then he felt the former Wing pilot shift and move awkwardly against him and before Duo could process what was happening his partner had turned his body toward him and had slung an arm around his shaking frame.

 _Is he hugging me?!_ Duo didn't know what to do. He hung there blind and stunned as Heero leaned in to speak quietly into his ear.

"I'll get Hilde. Find the Gundam."

Duo blinked in the blackness and reflexively turned his head toward his companion. "Eh?"

"I am not permitted to pilot it. We're running out of time. We need to get off of this colony," Heero's low voice whispered. "I'm counting on you to finish this."

It wasn't at all what Duo had expected and it took him a few moments to regain consciousness from the shocking blow of Heero's proposal. However, having his partner bolster his ego with his last statement definitely helped. Duo grinned at him despite the fact they couldn't see each other and sighed.

"Okay. I'll try to find it. You better take good care of her Heero, or I'll be the one to fucking kill _you._ " Duo said in a bright whisper. He was pretty sure he heard Heero snort at his threat.

"Understood."

* * *

Footnotes:

* "Motörhead were an English rock band formed in June 1975 by bassist, singer, and songwriter Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister, who was the sole constant member. The band is often considered a precursor to, or one of the earliest members of, the new wave of British heavy metal, which re-energized heavy metal in the late 1970s and early 1980s." - Wiki

** "Mission Mode" is Duo's joking way of describing Heero's no-nonsense attitude and expression during assignments.

*** AKA Tactical Fanny Pack. It's a thing, I swear!

^* Duo's Sneak Kit (as mentioned in Pt. 1): contains various items for stealth and infiltration. Some of those items include but are not limited to: a complete lock pick kit, plastic explosives and detonator, insulated leather gloves, compact IR flashlight with strobe option, IR detection goggles, five USD nickels, and a pack of Doublemint gum.

^^ "Klick" is one kilometer, or .62 miles.

^^^ For the love of Yuy's shorts PLEASE NEVER gangster hide your pistol in your waistband. Always use a holster! This message is brought to you by your friendly neighborhood volunteer range master. ^_~

^` **John James Rambo** is a fictional character in the Rambo saga. He first appeared in the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell, but later became more famous as the protagonist of the film series, in which he was played by Sylvester Stallone. - Wiki

^`` IR or infrared waves "The human retina can only detect incident light that falls in waves 400 to 720 nanometers long, so we can't see microwave or ultraviolet wavelengths. This also applies to infrared lights which has wavelengths longer than visible and shorter than microwaves, thus being invisible to the human eye." - Wiki (Though there is a study done by Washington University scientists who have proven IR can be detected by the human eye under certain conditions.)

* * *

/AN: I am also painfully aware that this whole chapter was basically them climbing a ladder. That's a first. ^^; My bad. I was going to make it just a part one, but I want to keep my post pacing up and I spent a lot of time arguing with an Army bro about how to use night vision vs infrared flashlights. Sorry, but I am pretty sure my use of IR here is now genuine and accurate and verified by a certified US Army tanker now. Hope everyone has a fantastic friday!/


	25. Chapter 25

Ch 25

 **Part One**

Duo hung suspended in the darkness for short time until the speaking and movement below had ceased. He wasn't sure if the chamber below was unoccupied, but he was now willing to risk a peek. He plucked his gloves from his hands and shoved them in his pack. The metal rungs of the ladder were freezing and his damp, bare skin burned as they made contact with the icy bars. He winced at the sensation but knew he couldn't fight or shoot effectively with his gloves on, so it was a discomfort he would have to endure. He grabbed the end of his braid and tucked its length into the back of his black padded jacket to keep it from swinging around as he began to invert his body in an attempt to peer through the opening. He tucked his feet through the rungs and like a kid on the monkey bars and tipped backwards until he was hanging completely upside down. His popped his head into the chamber and took in the scene below.

There was nothing. It was just an empty room about twelve by twenty feet with a single, narrow door metal on the far right side. The door had a traditional as opposed to a keypad and appeared to be completely closed. Duo frowned and pulled himself upright before shimmying down the rest of the ladder with his Glock in hand. He scanned the room again for any cameras or sensor devices but found none.

 _Okay, this is fucking weird,_ Duo thought with a frown as he inched over to the door. He leaned against it and pressed his ear to the chilled metal surface and listened. He couldn't hear anything. He reached down to gently try the lever handle. It was locked. He holstered his Glock and fished out his lock kit and knelt in front of the lock to study its type and composition. It appeared to be a basic pin tumbler lock. He had a couple of options as far as picking it. He could spend the time using his "C" and "W" rake picks* to press the pins, or he could try bumping** the lock. Bumping required the use of a specialized key and a small hammer to trip the pins inside while at the same time applying pressure to turn the key. He had ten such specialized keys and a small hammer in his kit, but if someone was on the opposite side of the door there was the potential that the sound of the hammer striking against the key would give up his position. He had no way of knowing what lie beyond the door.

He sighed and plucked out his rake picks and slipped them carefully inside the lock. This method was more time consuming but it was the stealthier option. He took his time finding the correct resistance and position and eventually managed to trip the lock and turn over the tumbler inside despite the numbness of his cold fingertips.

The lock rolled open with a faint click. He pulled the door ajar just enough to allow the latchbolt to slip free of the striking plate before pocketing his tools and snatching up his handgun again. He carefully let the door swing back by on its own and peered through the opening.

Inside he saw a vast mobile suit hangar partially lit by enormous round bowl-shaped lights suspended from the high beamed ceiling. The door he had entered through was close to the ceiling and connected to a narrow ledge of an opaque catwalk. There wasn't anything he could use as cover beyond the door so he knelt down low and dropped his body into a belly crawl before making his way slowly out onto the solid catwalk. He peered over the edge to the floor and saw that he was over twenty meters up. A maze of walkways and ladders created a chaotic web below him leading to the floor where a two-person private space shuttle was parked in the center of the floor. Duo fished out a pair of compact binoculars from his jacket pocket and peered down at the shuttle. He couldn't see any movement. He scanned the surrounding area for any sign of Alex and his companion but found none.

He blinked and worried the corner of his lower lip with his teeth as he considered his surroundings. What was the purpose of the room he had just exited from? There was nothing in there, so he could only assume it served as an antechamber for this hangar. Maybe Alex and whoever was with him entered this place the same way he and Heero had by sneaking through the Underground. It made sense as it was a well hidden pathway.

 _This place is fucking enormous for housing just one mobile suit,_ Duo thought as he scanned the area with his naked eye. There were four docking platforms in the hangar situated with two on each side. The rearmost platform on the right was unlit but occupied. He felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the faint, shadowy outline of something standing between sixteen and eighteen meters tall*** looming ominously in the gloom.

 _That's gotta be the Gundam,_ Duo reasoned quickly, though he had no other evidence aside from gut instinct. He began assessing how to get to it and saw that the maze below him led to a series of larger, more solid catwalk systems that were attached to the walls and lead directly to the suit platforms. He would have to descend to the level of the chest where he assumed the cockpit would be and make a beeline for the suit. He let his eyes scan the hangar again for any sign of life or cameras. He couldn't see anything, but he knew that didn't mean that he was in the clear. Alex and whoever was accompanying him had entered the hangar from high upon the catwalk and as far as Duo could tell there was only one way in and out of the place on foot. The only other way out that Duo could see was through the massive two-piece mobile suit launch door situated in the center wall between the pairs of mobile suit docking platforms.

He marveled at the setup and couldn't believe that the hangar even existed. He knew there had to be someone in power on L2 who had the resources and clout to facilitate this kind of construction and maintenance. He felt angry at the very thought.

 _Everyone I know is fighting for peace and disarmament, and these fucktards are literally digging their own graves right from under their feet._

He sighed and tried to tamp his anger into the back of his mind. _First order of business is to find a flight suit._

He pushed himself to his feet with some difficulty. He had been so wrapped up in climbing, lock picking and spying that he hadn't noticed how much more pull the colony's artificial gravity had on his body here. He had never been this deep below the surface of the inner ring before and now that he was so close to the colony's outer edge the centrifugal force from its spin had caused the gravity to increase. As he moved parallel with the outer edge he could really feel the difference. He took a deep breath and flexed his arms and legs against the stronger gravitational pull before beginning his sneak along the catwalk.

Duo had mastered the silent creep at a young age. Each step was dropped with a precise rolling motion that began with a vertical lift with the toe of his boot pointed down to keep from snagging against the ground, followed by pressing the outside of his foot on the ground gently. Next he consciously pressed the ball of his foot down to roll from the outside in. Finally he landed his heel to the ground before shifting the entirety of his weight onto the foot before beginning the process again with the next step. This quick and precise rolling movement came as natural as breathing to him, so when Hilde's wedge heels had given him such a hard time walking it had been frustrating. When he had tripped in front of Heero he thought he would die of embarrassment. Nope, heels just weren't his cup of tea but give him a worn out, smelly pair of combat boots any day.

 **Part Two**

Heero had worked his way back through the Underground without running into any resistance. Upon surfacing to the colony's street level he casually caught the bus in the direction of Hilde's scrap yard. He found that wearing Duo's clothes made it much easier to blend in than wearing his own.^* He looked down at the demonic image printed in white on his black shirt and sighed. He would have rather worn something less Satanic but Duo had insisted, saying that this shirt fit him because Heero was his " _Ace of Spades_ ". Memory loss or not, he was certain he never got any of Duo's seemingly random references. He plucked at the snarling horned tusked creature on his chest and found himself imagining this shirt stretched across his lover's body instead. He sighed in frustration and frowned. He didn't know why he was acting so obsessive about the American pilot.

He looked out the bus window at the dingy downtown of L2 as it passed by. He was still in awe of the things he had seen since arriving here. He knew that he didn't have all of his memories, and that he was only gradually coming to know the former Deathscythe pilot again but he had a feeling that much of what Duo had shown him he had never seen before.

He reflected on the two times he had first met Duo Maxwell. The first in the hangar's workshop on the Lennon and the second (and actual first) time when the other pilot had shot him at the naval base while trying to protect Relena from him.

In the hangar he had observed Duo as being a goofy, smiling, somewhat unintelligent person who blabbered on like a schoolgirl and who spoke with his hands entirely too much. It had taken some time for him to see how complex and intelligent the former Deathscythe pilot actually was. This memory was starkly juxtaposed with his first true memory of his partner. When he had first encountered Duo at the naval base during Operation Meteor he had feared him. Initially he had feared for his life, but more importantly he feared that the other pilot had taken his Gundam.

He had attempted to detonate Wing on the ocean floor with the intention of destroying it to keep it out of the hands of the OZ soldiers who had attacked him in the atmosphere. When he saw that it had had been dragged to the surface by a similar suit and noticed Duo checking its arrival status on his watch he had become stunned with pure, unadulterated fear. It was that fear that had driven him to attempt to blow up both suits with the missiles.

He sighed and saw the bus stop by Hilde's place come into view. He disembarked the bus after paying his fare and made his way to the shop's front entrance. As he entered he was met by an automatic greeting from Duo's former girlfriend.

"Welcome to Sweeper Depot! You want it, we got it!" Hilde chirped warmly from behind the desk. Her face was buried within a complex rotary engine. She had a torque wrench in her hand and hadn't looked up from her work until Heero was on opposite side of the desk. Once recognized him her casual, carefree expression transformed into that of worry and deep concern.

"Oh my God, where is he?" Hilde's voice was tinged with panic.

"He'll be fine. We need to leave," Heero replied firmly. "Pack your things."

Hilde had put her hands up as if to stop the walls from closing in on her. Her eyes were narrowed and she was shaking her head.

"Wait… wait a minute. Where am I going? Where's Duo? What the hell is going on?"

"Your boyfriend is an enemy agent. He has been tracking us. He's a danger to you and possibly to others. We don't know the details. Duo is underground retrieving a Gundam for Ouroboros. I promised him I would get you off of the colony."

Hilde's eyes were wide with disbelief. "You left him alone!?"

Heero knew that it was a lot to take in, but he also knew that at any moment Alex could walk into the shop and catch him trying to make an escape with her. He reached a hand out to grasp her shoulder firmly in an attempt to show her that he was serious.

"I'm sorry, I had to. It was the only way. We don't have time to discuss this. You need to trust me."

Hilde's eyes widened and she shook her head, clearly angry with him. However she said nothing more before vanishing out the back of the shop to the house to get her things. Heero sighed as she left and went to lock the front door of the shop. When he turned around he was met by a pair of wide, green eyes. A large, fluffy tabby was crouched on the desk Hilde had been working at. It was glaring at him from its perch. He couldn't recall there being a cat in the shop before. Heero narrowed his eyes back at it and they stared off for an entire minute before the cat gave him a slow blink and instantly relaxed. It hopped heavily from the desk and walked over to rub its plumed tail on his leg.

"Oh, jeez. I forgot about Milo. Shit. What am I going to do? I can't just leave him here." Hilde rambled as she entered the room. She paused and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the cat happily rubbing its chin against his shoe. "Weird. He used to really hate you."

Heero blinked and looked down at the cat as it continued to molest his leg. "Bring it."

Hilde hesitated before rushing off to a side room. She returned with a small cat carrier. When the cat caught sight of the compact carrier it stiffened and began backing up. Heero reached down to snatch it beneath its furry arms and picked it up before it could escape. He felt it kicking and clawing at his wrists with its back feet and heard it yowl at the betrayal. He shoved it into the carrier and avoided looking at it as it glowered at him from behind the cage door.

Hilde handed him the carrier and shouldered her backpack. She paused beside the desk. "Alex has my truck. How are we going to get to the spaceport?"

Heero frowned and looked down at cat carrier in his hand.

Part Three

Duo had been lucky enough to find a locker on the main wall catwalk at the level of the mobile suit's chest. He had quickly exchanged his black coat for a nondescript black flight suit and tucked his hip bag under his arm before rushing as fast as his weary body could down the central catwalk with his gun in hand. As he drew close to the hidden mobile suit he could make out its details more clearly.

 _Holy shit._ He stopped dead in his tracks as the Gundam finally revealed itself to him.

He was tired from the resistance from the increased gravity and the sight of the new suit had made his legs turn to Jello. He braced himself on the catwalk railing and stared wide-eyed up _Gundam Warlock,_ nay **Gundam Lucifer.** It was the spitting image of his old Deathscythe Hell.

The distinctive Gundam face mask was tilted down as if it were acknowledging his presence. The new suit's face was identical to Hell's in design except that it bore highlights in grey and gold rather than black and red. The distinctive Gundam V-fin transmitter^^ situated just above the dimmed green ocular cameras was of the same design and color as his old suit. He couldn't see much else other than two enormous bat-shaped wings coated with flat black paint and tucked neatly over its torso. Two giant black feet poked out from beneath its wings with the same sharp spikes projecting sharply upward from the toe.

He had expected it to somewhat resemble Deathscythe considering the scientists had it built with Deathscythe's spare parts. However, he hadn't anticipated how it would effect him to see it.

His heart ached. He never thought he could be this attached to something inanimate, but he had spent a large chunk of his childhood training on and fighting in Deathscythe. Some kids had playhouses, creeks in their backyards or a favorite bike that they could remember fondly. Duo had a giant gundanium killing machine.

"Sorry it took me so long," Duo said softly under his breath as he finally found his feet and began to carefully approach the suit. "But I'm here now, and I'm gonna get you out of here, okay?"

He had only taken two laborious steps toward it before something struck him hard in the center of his back and knocked him to his knees.

 **Part Four**

Heero frowned into the rear view mirror at the L2 CPD cruiser that had been following them for nearly a mile. He downshifted the Cobra Mustang to engine brake in an attempt to keep the car well under the speed limit. He knew that the officers would have run the car's plates and according to Hilde it was registered under her name. He wondered how long it would take before the police would make the connection and pull them over.

He passed the street that led to the spaceport and tried to formulate a new plan. The original plan was to catch the next shuttle off of the colony and just blend in with the crowd but now that they were being tailed Heero knew that the moment they pulled over the CPD was going to try to apprehend him. He was wanted, and once he stopped they had every right to restrain him once they were certain of his identity. Hilde could easily be hit with an aiding and abetting charge if she was caught with him. He glanced at the woman in the passenger seat. She had the cat carrier clutched tightly on her lap and the furious tabby was silently glowering at him from between the bars.

"We need to find another way," Heero said flatly as he checked the mirror again. "Where is the police headquarters?"

Hilde frowned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Back in the other direction, why?"

 **Part Five**

Duo felt a knee drop hard between his shoulder blades to pin him to the floor while a second pair of legs had appeared from beside him to kick his pistol out of his hand. He watched it fly over the edge of the catwalk and few seconds later heard it clatter to the floor below. His body slipped into fight mode and he felt the floodgates of adrenaline release. His weak muscles were instantly swollen with energy. He reached out to snatch the leg that had kicked his gun and pinched the inside of the knee hard. He saw the leg reflexively bend and the body that it belonged to stumbled and fell forward. Duo grabbed the back of the white shirt that landed in front of him and somehow managed to pull the fallen body closer. He barely processed who he was grappling. It didn't matter. His arms slid automatically around the neck of the individual in front of him into a choke hold. He began crushing the throat within his arms.

"Hell….p." A thin male voice said as the figure in Duo's arms struggled weakly against him. He felt the knee in his back dig deeper into his spine but he refused to let go. The pain in his back only forced his arms to tighten more.

"Fuck!" Suddenly the pressure against his back was released and he felt the body's weight leave him and heard the figure behind him scrambling away. "Okay, fine! There. Shit."

Duo pulled at the neck within his arms and guided the figure beneath him to a sit while he propped himself up onto his knees. He spun the man around and faced his other attacker with his arms still firmly set around the throat of his hostage and human shield.

"Miles?" Duo's voice blurted from his mouth just as his brain recognized the figure standing on the catwalk ten feet away from him. "What the fuck… what the fuck is all this shit!?" He squeezed the man in his arms forcefully, causing him to claw desperately at his forearms for release. The Underground leader was standing on the catwalk with his hands raised to show he wasn't armed.

"Now Duo… calm down. You don't want to kill that guy, do you? He's just an innocent. You're not like that-"

"You shut the fuck up!" Duo snarled. He released the pressure on the man in his arms only to let him suck in a choked breath before strangling him again. "Don't you dare. Who the hell are you to presume anything about me? You can't manipulate me so just quit. Who the hell is this guy and what the fuck are you doing down here?"

Miles was looking down at the man in his choke hold with a borderline frantic expression, giving Duo the information he needed. He wasn't going to kill the guy because obviously he was important. Important enough for him not to let go. He released the pressure again but this time let the man catch his breath. He stole a glance at the face in front of him and saw that he was holding a skinny, bald man with a brown mustache and beard. He looked to be in his fifties. There was nothing strong or imposing about the skinny creature at all.

"Well? You got five seconds to tell me before I snap his fucking neck."

"You're bluffing," Miles hissed. Duo squeezed. The little man in his arms flailed helplessly.

"One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. Four Miss-"

"Fine! Fine, just relax okay. I'll tell you." Miles said quickly. Duo frowned and released his arms a fraction to allow his hostage to struggle to breathe.

"He's a scientist. He helped to build this mobile suit." Miles explained meekly, as if telling Duo this information would be the death of him. "His name is Aeolia Schenberg."^^^

"Scientist, huh? So this brain of his is important? Would hate to see this head come off of its shoulders, then." Duo said menacingly. Miles was glaring at him.

"You're not that kind of person. Maxwell taught you better than that. I know you." The older man said. Duo couldn't help but laugh. His dark chuckle shook the shoulders of his helpless hostage.

"You have no idea what I am now or the shit I've done. You may think you're some tough motherfucker sitting in your hole in the ground drugging up your friends to keep them from disobeying you, but you're fucking nothing. You sicken me. Now stop trying to appeal to my humanity, because I'm tellin' you now you're barkin' up the wrong tree. What the fuck are you doing here and where is Alex Duran?"

Suddenly Duo felt cold steel press into the side of his head. He smirked, narrowed his eyes at the sensation and saw the familiar dark shadow of the figure standing behind him.

"About time you came out to see me," Duo said in a low voice. He released his hostage and shoved him forward. The old man fell onto his face on the catwalk.

"I was wondering if one of you faggots would show up," Alex's voice spoke from behind him with venom. Duo shrugged a shoulder and held his hands up.

"Yeah, well I didn't want to disappoint you. I know how much you missed me." He said in his cheeriest voice. He felt the gun push harder into his temple. His smile widened. "And if you think holdin' me at gunpoint is gonna scare me, you'd better think of something else. I fall in love with anyone who holds a gun to my head."^`

* * *

* "C" and "W" style rake picks are specialized tools that are used to pick locks. They are generally thought as a faster solution than traditional picks, and I have read in multiple forums that people tend to use them when they are in time sensitive situations.

** Lock Bumping is a technique used for opening pin tumbler locks. By using the correct bump or rapping key that corresponds with a certain lock it is possible to insert the key one notch short of full insertion and then tapping the key with a specialized lever and hammer to force it in and insert the pins in the correct order to trip the lock. It's much more complicated than that, but you get the idea. This method is fast, but has the potential to be noisy.

*** Deathscythe Hell was 16.3 meters tall. Wing Zero was 16.7m. Tallgeese III stood a 17.4 m. Interestingly the Arche Gundam from 00 Gundam series is the tallest at 20.9m.

^* Seriously, Heero, what about spandex and tank tops isn't conspicuous? (This is Op. Meteor Heero, before he discovers the magic of jeans and denim jackets.)

^^ Gundam V-fins have different functions in different series. In this we will say it was not only used to signify that the suit was a Gundam, but also to transmit data.

^^^ Aeolia Schenberg: Celestial Being Founder, Electric Mechanical Engineer, Quantum Physicist. (from 00Gundam)

^` Hilde and Heero both held him at gunpoint.

* * *

/AN: Thanks for the input and the high-fives and feedback! Hope everyone has a good weekend. :3/


	26. Chapter 26

Ch 26

Part One

"Hold on," Heero warned his passenger as he checked the rearview mirror and saw that the CPD cruiser had pulled into the right lane in an attempt to pass them. He suspected it was trying to pass them to identify him as the driver and he knew that if the officer saw him they would immediately pull them over. At this point no matter what happened the end result was going to be the same. They would have to run.

He glanced over at Hilde who had braced herself against the passenger door and had pinned the cat carrier tightly against her lap. She gave him an approving nod. Heero couldn't see a trace of fear on her face. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands and slammed his foot on the brake.

The Mustang lurched forward as it skidded to a stop. The pursuing CPD cruiser passed them, evidently not expecting the sudden stop. Heero stomped the clutch, slapped the shift knob into reverse and gunned it. The Cobra snarled as it cruised in reverse away from the incoming cruiser. Heero waited until the car had picked up considerable speed before snapping the car around with a wild J-turn. Once they were facing the opposite direction he forced the car into first gear and opened the throttle. The Ford's 428 V-8 engine screamed as it hopped off of the pavement with its wide tires, leaving hot black skid marks in its wake. The smell of burning rubber and waxy olefins from the open injectors filled the cab as the car clawed at the ground and shot off down the street.

Heero threw the heavy American muscle car into a slapdash zigzag pattern to avoid oncoming traffic. He gritted his teeth in frustration as the car oversteered with each sharp turn. He barely managed to reign it in to keep it on the road.

The CPD unit was on their tail again but this time with its lights on and siren wailing.

"Just up there," Hilde said as she hugged the cat carrier tightly to her chest. "Take a right up there!" The Mustang took the right turn in a chaotic slide and barely missed plowing into the front of a transit bus.

"Now left!" Hilde commanded. Heero complied and grunted as the car's rear end slid with the turn. He counter-steered* the best he could and allowed the heavy car to take the turn without any traction before straightening it out onto the new street.

He didn't know how Duo could stand having a vehicle that constantly felt like it was trying to wreck itself. Heero found the handling of the Mustang surprisingly difficult to manage and couldn't help but think that the powerful, sleek and chaotic car fit his partner's personality perfectly.

Finally the police headquarters came into view. He opened the throttle it, blew through the parking lot at a breakneck speed and skidded it to a stop beside the mobile suit training hangar.

Part Two

Duo reflexively coughed as his throat began to choke with blood. He bit back a pained groan as another strike landed against his jaw. He wouldn't give his attacker the pleasure of hearing him suffer. He forced his best smile and let the blood gather in his mouth. His hands had been handcuffed behind his back. He strained against them and felt the raised edges of the cuffs cut deeper into his wrists as he leaned forward on the cold, metal chair. The increased gravity was taking its toll on his body and he was finding it increasingly difficult to hold his head up. A few drops of his blood escaped his lips to color the floor between his feet.

"Now tell us who you're working for," Alex growled. He grabbed the back of his head and forced him to look up.

"Aren't you tired of askin' me the same question over and over again? How about we mix it up a little? Don't ya wanna know my favorite color?" Duo croaked playfully before spitting his collection of hot, coppery blood hard into his attacker's face. "Red!"

He received a punch to the chest in response. He winced and gasped as his lungs deflated upon impact. It took him a few moments to gather enough breath to speak.

"Guess it's a good… thing...that you didn't really like Hilde… huh? That means I don't gotta… pretend… that she didn't give me these…" Duo said breathlessly as he tilted his head to better expose the splotchy dark hickeys Heero had given to him the night before. His taunt had its desired effect. Alex was glowering over him with his fists raised to strike him again and for a moment Duo thought maybe he may have actually cared about her.

"You are disgusting," the man snarled as he wiped the spatter of Duo's blood from his cheek with his sleeve.

"You know what's disgusting? Lying to a girl and pretendin' to be her boyfriend. You fucked her too, huh? Had to go all the fucking way for your disguise, right? Nice guy right here. You may think I'm foul, but I would never crush someone's feelings for my own gain," Duo rasped with a scowl. He was angry, and he didn't care if anyone knew it. "So fuck you. You can pound on me all you fucking want but I ain't tellin' you shit."

Duo knew he was frustrating the other man. He could see the irritation evident on his face and hear the anger in his voice. He could have kept quiet and not said anything but he figured the outcome was going to be the same whether he talked shit to this asshole or not. He was trying to let this drag out for as long as he could to try and give Heero and Hilde enough time to escape the colony, so why not have a little fun?

He looked up through his his bangs at Alex who was flexing his hands in and out of tight, menacing fists. Behind him Miles was tending to the scientist Duo had strangled half an hour earlier. The frail, nerdy little man was gingerly rubbing his neck and casting worried looks in his direction. Duo sighed. He didn't want anyone's pity, especially from someone he had wouldn't have thought twice about killing.

Duo had an unusual relationship with death. He didn't fear death itself. He knew that the reaper was going to come for him sooner or later. What concerned him about dying was hurting others. He didn't want anyone to mourn him. He didn't want Death** to take him just yet because he didn't want to hurt anyone who he would leave behind. When he had first left for Operation Meteor in Deathscythe nobody cared about him. Maxwell Church was gone and with it Father Maxwell and Sister Helen. Solo, his closest childhood friend, had been killed in the plagues that had swept through L2. He had nothing left to lose, and nobody to leave behind.

Now he had friends. He had the guys on the Lennon. He had Howard. He had Hilde and Heero. He couldn't die now. Not yet.

"Why don't you just tell him, Duo? Why put yourself through this?" Miles was pleading with him from just behind his assailant.

"I'm not tellin' you shit," Duo hissed. He spat another wad of sticky, bright red blood at Alex which won him a backhanded slap to the face. He leaned back heavily into the chair, tilted his head back and laughed bitterly. "Man, just wait until I get outta these cuffs..."

"Such tough words from such a failure," Alex said darkly as he grabbed him up by the throat. He felt the chair fall away from beneath him as he was lifted from the ground and yanked up until he was teetering on his toes. "I can see right through you, Duo Maxwell. I know who you are. I may not know who you're associated with now but I know your past. You're that failed Gundam Pilot 02. The one they had shown all over the news. You're a wanted man. Preventer and the ESUN have plastered your face all over the networks. After I get what I need from you I'm going to turn you in for the bounty so stop trying to antagonize me to make me kill you. No, my pathetic little friend, you're going to live. You're going to rot in a fucking jail cell on Earth with all of the other useless pieces of space shit."

Dark grey spots had begun to materialize in his vision as his airway was being forcefully obstructed. Duo tried not to look like he was struggling for breath but his body had begun its automatic reflexive gasping in an attempt to save itself. Alex smiled with satisfaction as he noticed him straining to breathe.

"But first you have some information I need, and you're going to give it to me." The man murmured with a wicked smile before releasing his neck. Duo landed hard on his knees but somehow managed to keep his head from falling to the floor. He strained against his handcuffed wrists and felt the warmth of fresh blood spreading down into his cold palms. He blinked away the darkness that had been threatening to blind him and saw that Alex had crossed the room to Miles and the scientist, who now was avoiding looking at him.

 _He must not care for my shade of lipstick_ , he thought with sick amusement as he licked his own blood from his bottom lip. Alex returned with a confident grin and Duo didn't have to see what was hidden in his hand to know what was going to happen next.

"I'm a failure, huh? You can't even get a fucking answer out of me without druggin' me up. Nice one. Hope you're proud of yourself."

"I'm going to be proud to report all of your truths to my superior," Alex said with a smile as he grabbed him by the shoulder of his jacket and forced him back into the chair.

Part Three

The hangar filled with a symphony of yells and gunshots as Heero and Hilde dashed over the prone unconscious body of the guard who had been assigned to watch the entrance of the training hangar. Heero could see a training model of the L2 CPD Virgo at the far end of the hangar. It was their only option. As they ran he turned to fire blindly at formidable mass of officers who were now in pursuit of them. They scattered and ducked away in response, giving them a few seconds to gain more ground.

Hilde was fast and Heero was finding that he didn't have to compensate for her in any way. She was keeping up with him fine and seemed set and determined to do whatever he asked of her. He was beginning to see why Duo had fallen in love with this girl in the first place. Despite her sunny disposition and pretty face it was obvious that the soldier she had once been was still awake within her. She was showing no fear or hesitation while under fire.

They had made it to the catwalk unscathed. Hilde was taking the steps of the narrow catwalk two at a time as she ascended to the level of the cockpit. Heero followed her. The CPD Virgo's cockpit was open and ready to receive them as they approached it. Heero leaned over the catwalk and emptied his magazine at the officers. Three fell to the ground while the others sought cover. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Hilde was already in the pilot's seat. She had shoved the cat carrier into the under seat compartment and had initiated the suit's startup sequence. Heero could hear the familiar spooling of the gyros behind him. He holstered his gun and backed into the cockpit. As they scrambled to switch places a gunshot popped loudly from a catwalk overhead and in the next moment a bullet had struck the right side viewer panel, barely missing Heero's head. The bullet implanted itself into the corner of the monitor and in doing so sent a splash of shrapnel against Heero's face and right eye. He reflexively grabbed at his injured eye and when he pulled his hand away he saw it was coated with blood.

"Shit," he snarled as he squeezed his eye shut. He could feel the offending shard scraping against the inside of his eyelid.

Hilde had closed the cockpit door and the sound of bullets ricocheting from outside filled his ears. The inside of the cockpit was cramped and designed for only one pilot. She had perched herself on his lap as if it was the most natural thing to do and looked over at him as the activation sequence completed.

"Heero, your eye!" She gasped. Heero shook his head and grabbed the flight controls. The exterior cameras activated and revealed to them the activity inside the hangar. A hoard of officers had filled the foot entrance of the hangar and an armored truck had arrived to assist them. Its machine gun was spraying the front of the suit with bullets.

"I'm fine," Heero grumbled as he commanded the Virgo to move across floor. The men on the ground began to retreat and take cover. The truth was he wasn't fine. They were down one monitor, he was short one eye and he had no idea what weapons the suit was outfitted with or if it was even battle ready.

He couldn't see the weapon controls at all. "Hilde, you're going to have to help me."

She had turned to sig sideways on his lap and was peering into his face with a pensive expression. Heero could hear the cat meowing helplessly from beneath the seat.

"You just fly us out of here. I'll take care of the rest," she said adamantly before turning to face forward to rest her hands on the Virgo's arm controls. The suit hummed loudly as she pulled its beam cannon from the mount on the back and aimed it at the armored truck.

Part Four

Duo had tried using plenty of drugs in the past. He had grown up in a culture where drug use was as common as having a glass of wine at dinner. In the short time he had experimented with them he found that he and stimulants didn't get along. While his friends would revel in the sensitivity of color and sound he found himself spiraling out of control into a vortex of anxiety and paranoia.

Eyeshine had done that to him the first time he had tried it. Everyone he knew had lamented about how wonderful they felt on it and how the world just seemed to make more sense. Duo had the opposite experience. He didn't know if the formula for these new pills was the same, but he knew that this wasn't going to be a fun time.

He could feel his heart beginning to pound heavily in his chest as the toxins from the pill began to seep into his bloodstream. The hushed voices of his captors speaking nearby seemed small and lightyears away. The scientist had gone to wait for Alex in the shuttle on the floor, leaving Miles and Alex behind on the catwalk with him. He forced his heavy head up and twisted on his chair to look at the Gundam still docked behind him and frowned. He felt like a failure and couldn't help but feel ashamed for letting Heero and the others down. He had come so close to stealing the suit.

 _I wonder if they made it out okay_ , he wondered as he turned back around to stare at his boots. He had confidence that Heero would make sure Hilde was safe. The other pilot had never let him down before.

He sighed and closed his eyes. He let the darkness behind his eyelids fill with the images of Hilde and Heero and found himself smirking at the thought of them. He was lucky to have known and loved such beautiful people.

He felt his throat tighten at the idea that he would ever see them again. If Alex made good on his word he would be locked up for the rest of his life in the most secure prison vault imaginable: the Chasm Vault, ESUN's maximum security prison. It was where they sent all of their most dangerous inmates and even as a Preventer agent he had never met anyone who knew its location. He had no hope that anyone would find him there. Heero had broken him out of plenty of brigs, but this was a whole new level of security. For all he knew the Chasm Vault wasn't even on Earth. It could be anywhere in the solar system, and he had no hope that even his brilliant friends would be able to find him.

 _I might as well be dead,_ he realized. _I'm sorry… I'm so fucking sorry. I actually thought I could do this. I thought I could do something right for once. I shoulda known how this was gonna end. I'm letting you both down. I fucked this up..._

 _I don't wanna leave you..._

Part Five

They had cleared the colony and were on a course for Mars. Heero reached out to type the code for the Lennon's encrypted connection. Almost immediately Trowa's face illuminated the COM.

"We need a pickup, I'll send coordinates." Heero said tersely. He could make out the faint expression of alarm ghosting over Trowa's face. Heero figured the former Heavyarms pilot hadn't expected to see him and Hilde crowded in a cockpit when he answered.

"Okay. Where's Duo?" Trowa asked calmly.

The proximity alarms began to sound and as Heero looked down into the scanner's display he saw something had appeared within range. He looked up and tried to focus his good eye on the dark figure that had uncloaked in front of them. He pulled the Virgo to a stop. Hilde had manipulated the manual zoom and soon the entire center monitor was filled with the image of what Heero first recognized as Deathscythe Hell. Upon closer inspection he noticed that it was a different suit, but remarkably similar to its predecessor.

"Duo!" Hilde exclaimed with relief. Heero felt an unusual tension building in the center of his chest and immediately knew something was wrong. His suspicions were verified when the Gundam didn't answer Hilde's hail.

"He's here," Heero muttered in response to Trowa, who was waiting on the opposite end of the COM with a confused expression.

"Duo? Duo, are you there? Please, answer me!" Hilde was calling desperately through the COM, broadcasting over a general channel. Heero frowned. The hail would have been heard from anyone within range.

"We've deployed the Zan," Trowa reported over the encrypted connection. "It should be there soon. Hang in in there and be careful."

"Understood," Heero said before closing the connection. Hilde was shifting uncomfortably in his lap.

"Why isn't he answering me?" She said with frustration as she continued to hail the motionless Gundam. "Duo?! Duo, are you there? Is that you? Can you hear me? Say something, damn it!"

The speaker crackled with an indistinguishable sound. Hilde fell silent and Heero could feel her body tense against his own as a low, ominous whisper finally pierced through the silence.

" _ **It's time you came with me…"**_

The Gundam shifted and had reached behind itself to reveal two massive objects. It held them high over its head before a pair of jagged, violet glowing beams illuminated of the ends to form two flickering blades. Heero immediately sent the Virgo into a retreat at the sight of the twin beam scythes. He could hear a strange, dark yet familiar chuckle over the COM.

 _Duo..._

Heero immediately recognized his lover's voice. His body went numb with shock as his mind tried to to process what he was seeing. He was operating on pure instinct by running away. His body had already realized what his heart was refusing to believe as true.

" _ **Shinigami is back from Hell, and now it's time for you all to come back with me!"**_

* * *

Footnotes:

* "Opposite Lock: also known as counter-steering, deliberate use of oversteer to take a turn without losing momentum." - Wiki

** Death: **Death** is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's **Discworld** series and a parody of several other personifications of **death**. Like most Grim Reapers, he is a black-robed skeleton usually carrying a scythe AND HE TALKS LIKE THIS.

* * *

/AN: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. My old laptop finally gave up yesterday morning. :( The old 2006 MacBook Pro had a good run. She just couldn't keep up anymore. Poor thing was leaving out words left and right, was missing half of her letters on her keyboard, and kept passing out while trying to load documents. It had been limping along for a while. I finally put her to rest in the closet and went yesterday to replace her with a super advance, uber shiny younger model. Unfortunately things have changed quite a bit in ten years. Now I have to get through that awkward adjustment period of getting to know a new machine and getting comfortable with a new keyboard. So bear with me for a few days, ne? ^^'/


	27. Chapter 27

Ch 27

Part One

 _Duo's eyes opened to the bright simulation afternoon lights filtering through the small oval-shaped peep holes of the playground crawl tubes. It took him a few seconds to remember how he had ended up there. He rubbed the sleep from his eye and untangled his arms from his long, unruly hair before pushing himself up to a sit. He bumped the top of his head on the top of the tube and winced. He had grown a few inches since he had last been inside them and now he could only sit upright if he tilted his head to the side to shorten his stance. He looked to the end of the primary red tube and saw Solo curled up on his side few feet further in. He smiled at the sight of his best friend and recalled their wild escape from the community hospital the night before._

 _He couldn't sleep without him and when Father Maxwell had told him that Solo had been admitted to the hospital three days before because of a cold Duo had spent every waking moment waiting for the other boy to come back. When he hadn't returned he went looking for him. It was easy. He just walked in and told them he was lost, and when the nurse went to look for a security officer to help him he just checked every room until he had found him._

 _Solo had been in a room with a big "Q" word written on door. Duo didn't know what it said, but he noticed that everyone who went inside was wearing funny looking yellow dresses and cool plastic masks that made them look like the alien from "The Man From Planet X".* His friend had been sitting bored in the room all alone and it made Duo mad that they didn't give him anything to do. No TV, comic books, video games, nothing. Solo seemed happy to see him, except that he couldn't smile which bothered Duo. He had tried to make some of his best fart noises and told him his best knock-knock jokes but his friend was too tired to laugh. Duo had helped him up and when the people in the funny dresses went into the room next door they had snuck out._

 _Solo was heavier than he was so they didn't make it all the way home but instead had stopped to rest at the playground. His friend kept complaining that his chest hurt but Duo knew that he would feel better if he could just lay down for a little bit. He remembered the last time he had a cold. His chest hurt then too, and his nose had the nastiest green boogers he had ever seen. Maybe Solo was having the same boogers just in his chest? He had been waiting for him to get some rest and must have fallen asleep, too._

" _Hey, Solo! It's morning." Duo said as he poked his friend in the shoe. Solo didn't hear him. He tried shaking his leg. "Hey, wake up! Let's get goin', yeah? Lazy you can't sleep all day…"_

 _He shimmied on his hands and knees up to Solo in the tube. His friend's face was covered with his jacketed arms. He playfully grabbed them to pull them back and expose his face but they wouldn't move. Solo's arms felt like they were made of rocks and his hands were icy cold. Duo leaned in close to peer past his friend's arms at his face and gasped as he saw Solo's skin was grey and his lips were bright blue._

" _... hey… hey wait… please…" He grabbed his friend's shoulders and gently shook him. He didn't know what to think. Was he just sleeping? Why was he hard? Why were his lips blue? He didn't understand why he wouldn't wake up. As he shook Solo's shoulder's his friend's entire stiffened body rocked back and forth._

" _Please… wake up…." Duo sniffed, his eyes filling with tears. He was terrified. Had he done something wrong? "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I took you here, okay? I promise I won't do it again. We can go back to the hospital. They'll make you better, right? Solo, please… wake up…" His dingy face became damp with tears as he continued to rock his friend from side to side in an attempt to wake him._

 **Everyone died, so everyone must die.**

Duo felt his body melt down into the familiar pilot seat of the mobile suit Gundam Lucifer. He knew what he had to do. The Devil himself had shown him. The plague was still there on L2, and the only way to defeat it was to kill the viruses that surrounded the colony. If he could just take them to Hell with him he could save everyone. He would be able to exchange the viruses for the lives that had been lost. He would be able to bring everyone back. He had already eliminated the dark, twitching skeleton-like viruses that had been trying to infect him. He looked through the suit's external cameras at the two decapitated demon viruses lying on the catwalk in front of him. He had made quick work of them. They couldn't hurt anyone ever again. He looked down at his blood soaked hands. His left wrists and hand had been scraped raw. The bloody handcuff was still dangling from his right wrist. He activated the suit and breathed a sigh of relief as it thrummed and vibrated all around him. He knew he could do this. He wouldn't let anyone down this time.

He forced the suit through the surrounding catwalks, bending and destroying anything that held him back. The main hangar release doors were closed. He reached back to grab his scythe from the suit's back only to find that this suit had two. He grinned wickedly, unfolded them and activated them. The deep, flickering violet light filled his eyes and inspired his determination. He sliced the hangar doors with two wide arced slashes to form a hot, molten orange X in the center before kicking the pieces out and dashing through them and out into open space.

Space was a swirling whirlpool of planets, galaxies and stars in various stages of supernova. He could see the dark side of the moon wearing its glowing halo of sun just beyond the colony. Something darted out of the side of the slowly rotating ring near its center and was careening away and outward in the direction of Mars. He put his scythes away and activated his suit's cloak and hyper-jamming capabilities and chased after it.

He passed it by and saw what he had suspected it was all along. A virus. It's grotesque skeleton body dripping with chunks of meat and flesh. That was how viruses worked, didn't they? They snuck into a host and destroyed it from the inside out while it reproduced. It was clear these demonic zombie virus things needed to be stopped, and he was the one who could do it. He zoomed in front of the virus and revealed himself by dropping his cloak. It stopped at the sight of him and he wondered vaguely if viruses even felt fear.

 _Nah… don't even try to get away. It's time you stop terrorizing this fucking colony once and for all,_ he thought with a half-smile. A hail had been sent over his COM. He grinned and couldn't help but laugh. Was it really trying to contact him?

Eventually he opened the communications. He didn't give the virus a chance to broadcast back. He readied his two beam scythes.

"It's time you came with me… Shinigami is back from Hell, and now it's time for you all to come back with me!" He said through general broadcast over the COM. As if on cue a small swarm of viruses had poured out the side of the colony and were coming toward him. He laughed and saw the virus he had pursued slipping away from him in reverse.

"Oh no you don't," he muttered as he chased it down. It wasn't going to get away from him. He had to stop the viruses and bring them to Hell. The very safety of the colony and life in space depended on him.

Part Two

"Duo! Duo please! Stop!" Hilde was yelling frantically as Heero maneuvered and spun them out of the way as the Gundam lunged and slashed at their Virgo with its massive beam scythes.

Heero was having difficulty gauging depth and distance due to his skewed perception from only having use of one eye. His injured eye throbbed with pain and was oozing blood and something hot, thick and sticky. He could feel the mixture of substances running down the side of his face to gather within the collar of the shirt Duo had given him.

His partner's attacks continued to come fast and furiously. Heero couldn't think of any other solution aside from retreat. He hadn't expected this to happen, and he could only imagine that something had been done to the pilot of Gundam Lucifer to make him target his friends. He felt helpless. He couldn't help his partner or himself.

The training Virgo was underpowered. Heero could tell by the lagging response time and its minimal thrust that even for a CPD unit this training Virgo had been watered down significantly. They weren't prepared for this kind of confrontation, especially against a foe as formidable as a Gundam.

"We need more distance, I can't get a lock onto him. He's too close," Hilde said in a hoarse, breathless voice as she was thrown around on his lap with every sudden twist and turn. "I'm going to try and deploy the Planet Defensors," she announced confidently. Heero watched as she slapped the release button for the four discs on the Virgo's left shoulder. A loud 'wheen' sounded as the defensors shot forward and formed a pulsating circular electric shield in front of them. The Gundam slashed its beam scythes wildly into the shield, only to have them deflect and bounce back with a shower of blinding white sparks upon impact. Heero knew that this wasn't an end-all solution. He wasn't terribly familiar with the Virgo but he knew that most mobile suit force shield defense solutions were only effective for a short amount of time. He dropped the Virgo down and rolled it upside down to try and move behind the black Gundam. Lucifer rolled with him as if it were connected to them by an invisible thread at the chest. They continued to careen backward away from their attacker. Heero could see the pulsating Planet Defensors beginning to fade with each direct hit from the scythes.

"Duo! Come on, why won't he say anything? DUO MAXWELL, STOP! PLEASE STOP THIS!" Hilde was getting overwhelmed. Alarms began wailing from behind them as ten incoming L2 CPD Virgos were pouring out of the colony and onto the battlefield. They were moving in quickly on approach from ahead of them. Their incoming volley of attack had targeted the back of the Gundam. A line of golden beam fire from the colony police Virgo cannons illuminated the velvety darkness as their shots flew at Lucifer's back and struck its uplifted bat-like wings. The Gundam shuddered as it was struck but made no move to stop its pursuit of Heero and Hilde. "It's not him… it can't be him," Hilde said in disbelief.

"No. It isn't him," he replied firmly. "Something's wrong. Try to relax." Heero knew he wasn't the best at reassurance, but he had to try. He couldn't let Hilde lose her focus. Not now.

Another barrage of beam attack fell on the back of the demon Gundam as it rushed them. This time the new attackers had finally caught the massive black suit's attention. It spun away from them and zoomed in the direction of the line of L2 CPD. Hilde deactivated the Planet Defensors as Heero spun the suit around to face forward as it shot away from the scene and toward Mars.

He could see the deep violet and bright golden yellow beams colliding behind them as the Gundam faced off with its CPD attackers.

They received a hail over the encrypted connection. When it opened Wufei was looking through the monitor with his jaw tight and his eyebrows curled down low over his eyes. "My ETA is two minutes. Prepare to board." Heero could see him inspecting their image on the monitor. He could only imagine what he looked like, bloodied and battered with Hilde propped on his lap. The cat hidden beneath his seat took the moment to yowl frantically. "Yuy… what is going on over there?"

Heero knew that Wufei had to be picking up the battle activity on his long range scanners. He frowned and wasn't sure what to say to him.

"Duo's mental state has been compromised," Heero said firmly. He could hear the other pilot huff over the line.

"What's new?" Wufei grumbled.

"He's serious!" Hilde blurted angrily. "Something's wrong with him. He just tried to kill us and he won't answer our hail. I think he's been brainwashed or something. You've got to stop him, but please don't hurt him…"

Wufei was frowning. Heero saw him look away from them and direct his focus down at his control panel. "Locking onto its signature now. Dock first and then we'll try to intervene," the Chinese pilot instructed firmly. Heero nodded and saw that the Zhànshì had finally entered their airspace. He slipped the Virgo around to the cruiser's aft end and saw that the hatch had been opened to receive them. He attempted to guide the suit through the narrow entryway but caught its right shoulder in the doorway. He felt Hilde's hands press on top of his own to assist him in guiding the suit onto the platform where it was gradually pulled into a sealed hold. The atmosphere indicator lights flashed from red to green as the inside of the stealth cruiser's mobile suit hold stabilized. The Virgo's dented hatch creaked open and Hilde floated out first. Heero kicked off of the seat and wasted no time getting to the Zàn's bridge.

"Gundam incoming," Trowa was saying from the lower seat as Heero entered the bridge. Wufei was seated on the upper level of the dual pilot setup manipulating the helm while Trowa was working the weapon's system. Both of his fellow pilots were wearing their Wing-One immersion helmets which prevented them from seeing him as he entered. "Target, lock."

"He killed them." A voice said calmly from behind him. Heero looked over his left shoulder with his good eye and saw Quatre standing in the doorway in a navy and white Ouroboros space suit. His arms were crossed over his chest tightly and his expression reflected his obvious worry. "Every Colony Police Virgo. Preventer has been activated. They should be here shortly. Heero, what happened to you eye?"

Quatre had approached him and was tenderly prodding at the swollen skin around his closed eyelid.

"Shrapnel," Heero replied dismissively. "I think Duo is under the influence of a synthetic narcotic that we encountered on L2. It makes the user susceptible to influence. I don't know if he was set out on this mission of his or not, but he said something about taking people to Hell with him. He's not of sound mind," he explained. He could see Hilde floating just beyond the doorway with the cat carrier in hand.

Quatre was leading him gently by the upper arm away from the bridge. Heero resisted his guidance and refused to move.

"I need to connect with him. Is there any way we can force a broadcast to the Gundam? Do we have it's COM registration?" He asked hurriedly. "He isn't going to stop until he has destroyed this ship."

Heero knew that the odds of them making it away from the Gundam at the hand of his partner were slim. They didn't have the ability to use aggressive weaponry against him and all of the weapons on the stealth cruiser were designed to battle suits made with more commercially available materials, not gundanium. He tried not to think about how the Lucifer pilot would feel if he woke from whatever nightmare he was trapped in to find that he had killed everyone he cared about in one fell swoop.

"We can try and see if we can connect. Let me get a hold of Howard. Heero, please let me help you with your eye. If you don't do something soon you may lose it." Quatre urged him. Heero sighed and let the Winner heir lead him to the center of the ship where the medical bay was located. Hilde was following them.

"I'm sorry we have to meet again under these kinds of circumstances," Quatre said to her as he forced Heero into an examination chair and floated behind him to activate the ship's automated surgeon. A glowing white probe arm slid from the ceiling and began scanning Heero's face.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too." Hilde said, her voice wavering. Heero glanced up at her and saw that her face was hard and her eyes distant. "Do you think they'll be able to stop him?"

"I don't know," Quatre replied honestly, his normally soothing visage turning grim. "But I can tell you that they'll do the best that they can."

* * *

Footnotes:

* "The Man From Planet X": (1951) Cult classic American Sci-Fi movie.


	28. Chapter 28

Ch 28

 **Part One**

The probe finished its assessment of Heero's eye just as Gundam Lucifer had begun its attack. The ship was filled with a steady, deep vibration as the demon mobile suit had begun it's slashing assault on the Zan's shielded bow.

The ship's automated surgeon had suggested that Heero permit it to attempt an extraction of the shard and smaller debris that had embedded into the sclera of his eye. His lateral rectus muscle had been damaged as well. There could be no extensive repairs until they had returned to the Lennon, but the shard could be removed to reduce the discomfort and possibility for further infection.

Heero was frustrated. He reluctantly reclined on the long, white procedure table and tried to relax as the ship trembled all around them. He could hear the whir and high-pitched buzz of the Zan's EMP scatter cannon discharging. A halo slid down over the top of his head to keep it immobile while a set of thin, silvery arms with pincers and hooks dropped down from the ceiling and began to pick and pull at his eyelid. A faint spray had blown across his eye to apply a topical numbing agent to minimize his discomfort during the extraction. He could hear Quatre working diligently on a laptop beside him. Hilde had vanished down the hallway to situate her pet.

"Howard sent the suit's COM register. He thinks it will work. The new Gundam can't directly connect to Wing-One so you are going to have to talk to him over a basic line. Howard thinks we can focus the Zhànshì's jamming^' capabilities to knock out the communication controls of the Lucifer and then force the broadcast over his COM monitor. It looks promising, but Heero, what do you plan on saying to him?"

"I don't know," Heero murmured as he attempted to keep his face as still as possible while the pincers scraped over the front of his cornea. He winced and both of his eyes began to water uncontrollably in response. He couldn't see anything out of his right eye, and having both open and filled with tears only caused his vision to warp and blur. "I just need to try."

His head was filling with a sharp aching sensation. He wasn't sure if it was from the stress of the situation or his eye injury. He grit his teeth and felt the blood that was leaking from his right eye beginning to pool on the table behind his head.

"Wufei said you remember everything up until the end of Operation Meteor," Quatre asked as he paused in his typing. "But nothing after that, right?"

Heero frowned. "I'm not sure. I keep having … strange thoughts, as if I've done things before. I don't know what sequence these memories are supposed to be in."

"How are they coming back? What is triggering them?" The former Sandrock pilot asked as he resumed his work with Howard at setting up the jamming capabilities to interfere with the Gundam.

"I don't know," Heero replied honestly.

His sudden recollection after his angry and murderous spree in the park bathroom on L2 had come abruptly. He hadn't had a moment to really reflect on what had happened there and now that he could do nothing but lie on the table and wait for the machines to repair him he felt a strange pull at his chest, as if something was grabbing him from the inside only to pull him deeper into himself. He felt like he was going to implode.

 _I don't want to kill anymore…_

The thought forced itself loud and clear to the forefront of his thoughts. He remembered seeing the gun in his hand and smelling the blood in the room.

He didn't feel any guilt for doing what he had. In that moment he was sure that those people were wrong. They were threatening Duo's safety and possibly his life. He would have done it again without a second thought.

He felt a coiling tightness within the pit of his stomach. Had he lost control or was he fully aware of his actions when he had killed those men? When it happened he had felt both sensations simultaneously. He had been fully aware and yet completely out of control. Something had taken him over.

 _That wasn't who I was, was it?_

What had he been like after Operation Meteor? Who was the person everyone kept referring to? Who was the version of him that his partner was always comparing him to? How different could he had possibly been?

He felt like he was groping a crystal ball and searching for a glimpse of his future. He had read his personal logs. Everything he had ever written there was the same: stale and to the point reporting. There was nothing about preference. There was no personal input or feeling behind anything he had found there. The only thing associated with his name that seemed to mean anything was his playlist on Duo's player. Even after listening to those songs over and over again Heero couldn't tell what he had meant by them. What did it all mean?

The ship groaned and the sizzling sound of something straining against its shielding systems was almost deafening. He frowned and felt the table beneath him quaking. As it did he felt a faint pressure against his eye as the pincers were thrown out of position. He saw them pull away to for re-calibration.

"How much longer will this take?" Heero asked loudly over the intrusive noise, his irritation coating his voice.

"It says it is only forty percent completed," Quatre reported from beside the table. "Howard has patched the modified jamming program to the Zan's COM. It's ready to use when you're finished."

The ship jolted from side to side as the sounds from its external assault grew louder. Heero sighed and felt the pincers slipping around in an attempt to pull the shard from his eye.

There wasn't time for this. He couldn't delay action any longer. He made a snap decision and reached up to force the automated surgeon away from his face and slipped off of the table.

"Heero? Wait a minute… it's not-" Quatre had begun to protest from behind him. He could feel the other pilot trailing him as he made his way back to the bridge of the ship. He saw Hilde in an Ouroboros space suit standing just outside of the open archway of the bridge. Wufei and Trowa were both seated in silence, clearly communicating through the Wing-One technology. As he neared he could hear only the sound of alarms and the blasts from the ship's EMP turrets as they attempted to ward off its furious attacker.

Hilde had turned to look at him as he approached. She gasped at the sight of his face but hadn't dared to say anything more.

"Quatre, patch me through to Lucifer." Heero said as he took a seat at the detached communications console.

 **Part Two**

Duo growled with irritation as the massive helical virus refused to be penetrated. He slammed both scythes against its impermeable sparkling blue aura and scowled darkly. He had destroyed all of the viruses except this one. He knew that this had to be the main virus; the one that spawned all of the smaller zombie ones.

He reached down with shaking, black-gloved hands and grasped the pair of joystick controls tightly. He couldn't feel his fingertips or toes and his eyes were filled with an acute stinging sensation. He closed his eyes in an attempt to soothe them. When he opened them he saw that every large upper monitor in his cockpit was displaying the stern, unblinking face of an oddly familiar cyborg.

Recognition struck him like a runaway bullet train. "H… heero… what are you doing here?"

He had seen Heero like this before, hadn't he? Of course he had. Heero was a fucking cyborg, he always had been. He began drumming his fingers feverishly on the armrests. His mind began processing at an alarming speed. His thoughts became difficult to distinguish from one another as they pulled apart and then began blending together.

 _Always cold. His hands are always cold… his mouth is always cool. I can't even remember a time when he wasn't. His mouth is always hard. He hardly sweats. He barely tires. He's serious. Can't take a joke. He smells like gundanium. He tastes like copper… his skin… nobody can fall from that high up and live. Nobody. He didn't even drown… not from the missiles, not from the hospital fall… he landed on his fucking head after falling from the a mobile suit and he didn't die from that. He fell through the atmosphere. He can't die. Heero Yuy can't die. He's a cyborg. It all makes sense. I knew that. I knew that he was a fucking cyborg. I made him human once. Not anymore. He's not human anymore._

"Duo, stop this. You've been drugged." Cyborg-Heero said flatly in a humming, synth voice. Duo stiffened at the accusation and frowned.

"I'm not drugged. I understand my purpose perfectly. The Devil gave me this suit to bring justice to the people here… Lucifer needs me to guide it. Kill all of the viruses. Bring the light*** back to this colony. Heero, hasn't there been enough suffering? I've had enough… if I do this I can bring him back. Don't you understand?"

Cyborg-Heero's robotic eye appeared to be out of commission. Duo saw a yellow, glowing translucent goo trickling down from the right, mangled blue lens. The intact, normally indifferent cobalt eye had widened with a look of surprise. Duo felt suddenly uncomfortable under its scrutiny.

"Who are you trying to bring back?" Cyborg-Heero asked mildly in a tinny voice. Duo could see his cyborg-partner's enormous metallic pearl-white feather wings shifting to unfurl around him.

The question pierced through his body like a lance. He felt his heart fall into an arrhythmic galloping beat. He couldn't catch his breath. He doubled over and began to shake. His legs tingled and felt like they were full of lead. He tried to move them but they lagged in response as if they were asleep.

"Duo? Duo listen to me. Uncloak. I'll come get you."

"... no…"

"Uncloak. It's over." Cyborg-Heero said slowly, his voice dragging and dipping in volume.

"I can't… everything…" Duo's throat was tight as he tried to force his words free from his lips. "I can't leave all this behind. I gotta stop running. I gotta fix this."

"There's nothing to fix."

"That's not true. THAT'S NOT FUCKING TRUE! STOP! Stop trying to belittle this! Everyone wants to forget them, but I won't. I won't fucking forget 'em! They didn't die for nothing!"

Lucifer's sensors whined, interrupting his outpouring of emotion. His wavering, fragile mask immediately hardened at the sound. With his battle face snapped back into place he snarled at the sight of two incoming viruses. These were different from the others. These were solid black, with glowing red skulls at the top of their complex spindled bodies. They came rushing from around the darkened moon on a direct course for the helical mother virus.

"Duo!" Cyborg-Heero suddenly exclaimed before he was suddenly cut off by Duo's hands ghosting over his suit's hyper-jammer controls. The connection cut out and soon his cameras once again filled with the image of the mother virus and the two black and red skulls racing towards him.

"I'm sorry Heero… but I gotta do this," he whispered, uncloaked and zoomed head-on into the pair unfriendlies.

 **Part Three**

The sudden disconnect had left Heero feeling lightheaded. The situation was worse than he had thought. He braced himself on the edge of the control panel and stared down into the static of the disconnected tabletop COM. He could feel Quatre and Hilde's presence over his shoulder watching him. A few drops of his blood spattered down onto the snowy monitor from his eye. He couldn't feel the pain from it any longer.

His suspicions had been correct. He had seen it in Duo's eyes. The madness, confusion and the bright red pigmentation from being under the heavy influence of that synthetic drug. Heero had seen that same reddish hue in the Underground leader Miles's eyes after he had used it. He lifted a hand to cradle his forehead and tried to force out the image of his partner sprawled in the pilot's seat, trembling and spiraling out of control. He needed to help him but the fuzzy distortions in his mind were preventing him from being able to concentrate on a plan.

"Preventer Taurus units have just entered our airspace," Wufei said aloud, directing his comment at them. He turned his shielded face in their direction. "He's moving to engage them."

"I think we need to consider all of our other options," Trowa said from his seat below Wufei. "This is getting out of hand. I propose we look into using the shock net. It runs a risk of harming him, but at this rate…"

"Do whatever is necessary," Heero said slowly. He lifted his right hand to his eye to apply pressure to it's wet, swollen bulge in an attempt to stop the bleeding. "He can't be reasoned with. We'll have to take him by force." He let his left hand slide over the control panel to activate the external cameras. He scanned until he could see the confrontation and zoomed. The pair of specialized Preventer Taurus suits that he had specifically developed for his partner and himself were darting and encircling in precise evasive patterns around the enormous Gundam as it loomed darkly over them with its angular bat wings held menacingly above it.

Duo Maxwell was a fierce pilot. He could tell that his partner's skills had increased considerably since Operation Meteor. Heero had always thought of Duo was a formidable ally. His style was unique and vastly different from anyone Heero had ever witnessed. His suit was perfectly matched to his fearless, in-your-face personality. He watched as Lucifer mimicked many of Deathscythe's trademark maneuvers. The nefarious demon suit dove and rolled swiftly around its targets. The bat wings absorbed much of the beam fire the Taurus suits were sending at it and its pair of ruinous beam scythes were spinning and arcing around them in long, sweeping blurs.

Heero knew what those suits were capable of. He recalled vividly when he and Duo had performed a JOIN through Wing-One.

He blinked his good eye and stared at the two Preventer suits. He suddenly realized that he had been recalling facts he had never remembered before. These memories were more recent, weren't they? He had detailed memories about the Taurus suits, pairing and bonding through Wing-One with his partner, and performing a JOIN sequence in battle. He couldn't remember anything before it, or what happened after the JOIN but none of that mattered now.

He stood up abruptly but then immediately regret the sudden movement. His head swam and he slumped back into the seat as the vision in his left eye tunneled. Quatre had reached out to steady him with a firm hand to his upper arm.

"Heero? Are you alright? Listen, we should really get you back to the medical bay. You're looking pale. You've lost a lot of blood." Quatre was pleading with him. He braced himself against the communication's console and felt the disjointed pieces of his mind beginning to shift and lock like a muddled puzzle finally being put right.

"Shit! He's found the Possessor!" Wufei barked loudly through his immersion helmet. Heero heard him slam his fists against the armrests of his seat.

"What is that?" Heero asked as he looked down to see that Lucifer had grabbed onto the back of one of the Taurus suits. It had shoved away from it and as it did a small orb of intense violet light shot out of its chest and struck Taurus in the center of the back.

"It's a prototype weapon," Quatre explained quickly. Wufei was still letting loose a vicious tirade of curses from his spot at the helm. "It allows the Gundam to temporarily take control of another mobile suit. They wanted to use it as a nonlethal weapon. We still don't know that much about it. Professor G wouldn't give us the details."

Heero leaned over the tabletop monitor and wiped the growing spatter of blood he had inadvertently dropped onto the screen away with his hand. As he did he saw that the Taurus struck by the possession light was convulsing and shuddering. It had twisted into an unnatural position with it's core arced completely back and its arms stretched out as far as they could behind it. The suit's dark joints were being filled with a flickering, livid glow.

"We can't fire on Preventer," Quatre said loudly. "We are allied with them in this fight."

"Tell them that," Hilde said nervously from behind Heero. She was peering over his shoulder at the monitor. "It's coming this way. Look at it. It's moving just like Lucifer is."

"Lucifer made it a mobile doll," Heero said softly as he watched what Hilde had observed as well. Every movement was being mirrored between the two suits. The second Taurus was hanging back and still firing on Lucifer as it dragged its unwilling victim alongside it towards the Zan.

"Contact Professor G. I need to know if this possession allows for Lucifer to connect fully to the Taurus suit's operating system. If it shares that aspect, I need to know if I am capable of pairing and bonding through it." Heero said, his voice becoming hoarse as his throat felt tight and suddenly very dry.

"You're not suggesting you bond with him like that? He doesn't have an immersion helmet.." Wufei said from the helm. Heero turned around and saw that Trowa had taken his helmet off and was watching him with a deep, contemplative expression.

"I'll help you," the former Heavyarm's pilot finally said firmly. He had stood up from his seat with his immersion helmet in hand. "I'll get him ready. Quatre, can you call Professor G? Hilde, do you think you can help us?"

"I'll do anything," was Hilde's immediate, eager reply.

"Alright." Trowa said, his voice calm and commanding. He had reached out to grasp Heero's shoulder to steady him. "I have been working with that system for a while now. I think I know how we can get around the immersion limitation. I have an idea…"

A short while later Heero was sitting in the lower of the Zan's dual-pilot setup. Hilde had patched over his injured eye with a thick square of white gauze and Trowa had helped him into a strange, stretchy black flight suit. He could feel the unusual fabric of the suit pulling at his body as he made contact with the lower pilot's seat. Margnetic pulses were working their way systematically up and down his limbs as the suit seemed to be feeling his body and assessing him. Trowa handed him the helmet.

"Hull shields are at thirty percent," Wufei reported from his spot at the upper helm seat. "Preparing to deploy the shock net. Are you ready, Yuy?"

Heero inhaled a deep breath through his nose and nodded before slipping the helmet over his head. He reached up to tip the opaque shielding down, plunging himself into total darkness. He stared straight ahead into the nothingness. Soon he was blinded by a glimmering golden light that reminded him vaguely of ZERO and its probing aura. He stared into the spiraling orb of light that had concentrated in the center of the screen.

 **Wing-One Activated.** A smooth, female computerized voice announced. Heero was surprised to hear the voice mingle with his thoughts rather than speaking into his ears. He felt the thick black flight suit pulse and hug him tightly as his back was sucked hard into the seat.

 **Pilot Black Alpha Recognized.** **Initiating pair. Proud Mantis is now paired.**

 _You no longer need to speak. Do you remember any of this?_ Wufei's voice whisked across his mind brusquely. Heero felt an odd, distant familiarity with the process.

 _Yes,_ he replied experimentally. He could feel the same electric current that ZERO produced coursing through his mind, enhancing his thoughts and forcing a higher response rate. He felt suddenly very comfortable with this invasive system. _I'm ready._

 _Alright, launching shock canister._

Heero's vision was flooded with the images the external hull cameras of the stealth ship were detecting. A cylinder had been shot from high on the port side. It careened down toward Lucifer and it's possessed companion Taurus as they were chipping away at the Zan's shield barrier. It landed between the two suits. As it exploded it engulfed the two suits in a bright cloud of orange electroconductive particle dust. As the dust expanded a shockwave spiderwebbed from the center to completely engulf the cloud. When the dust cleared Lucifer and its prey were hanging limply in the air, seemingly deactivated.

 _First shock was a success. We will need to work fast._ Wufei said urgently through the pair.

 _Wing-One. Locate pilot 02._ Heero instructed.

 **Scanning. Deploying jamming particles... Jam particle override, complete. Connecting to MS Gundam Lucifer. Forced override. Major mechanical systems inoperable. Gundam communications system paired. Pilot Cobra Commander, identified.**

 _Preparing second shock._ Wufei announced. Heero watched as a moment later another canister floated down between the two suits.

"Okay Hilde, apply the probe… three … two… one… contact." Trowa's voice sounded dim from outside of the immersion helmet. Heero felt a jolt of energy coursing through his flight suit as Trowa and Hilde applied the extra voltage he would need to force broadcast a Wing-One bond through Duo's suit. Heero wasn't sure if this would even work.

Trowa's plan was hypothetical. The idea was that if they concentrated enough electroconductive particles around the Gundam they would be able to broadcast Heero's bond through the dust and into the suit itself. It was a long shot, but it was one they were all willing to try. If this didn't work they would be left with no choice but to take more aggressive action against the Gundam. Heero knew that wouldn't end well. Duo wasn't going to stop until he had done whatever it was he thought he needed to do. It would come down to a choice between the lives on the ship or his lover's. Heero didn't want to make that decision. He would try anything at this point.

He felt static energy gathering in his fingers and toes as every muscle in his body began to twitch and tense with the stimulation. He saw the canister explode into a second orangy cloud of dust. The arcing electricity illuminated the cloud.

 _Wing-One, initiate pilot bond with Cobra Commander._

 **Initiating pilot bond.**

Heero grit his teeth as the energy surrounding his body sunk deeper into his core and began to snag at his very being. A ripping, deep bass sound had consumed his ears and was vibrating him so hard that it felt like his body's cells were separating. His skin had began to burn beneath the suit from the hot energy that was pouring through him as his vision swelled with blinding golden light.

* * *

Footnotes:

^' Jammers: GW utilizes technology they refer to as "jamming particles" which are used to disrupt enemy radar and cameras. Deathscythe and Deathscythe H. both have this capability.) _This is a play off of the Universal Century's MINOVSKY PARTICLE which reacts to radiation, radar and long-range communications. For the purposes of this fic we will stick with the Jamming Particle for now, and maybe will open the pandora's box that is Minovsky in part III._

* **Active Cloak** "Contains four field generators that function similarly to the Mercurius' planet defenders, they are used when the shoulder-mounted active cloak is closed. The force field is strong enough to repel shots from Vayeate or Virgo's beam cannons, and the armor itself is coated with an anti-beam coating. The active cloak also allows the Deathscythe Hell to turn invisible when closed, and can function when opened, enhancing the suit's mobility." - Source: Gundam Wikia

*** "Lucifer" translated in Latin means "morning star" or "light-bringing".

/AN: Nothing says true love like subjecting yourself to possible electrical burns for the person who holds your heart! Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! Thanks for all the continued support! 3/


	29. Chapter 29

**Part One**

Everything dark became light as the spark from the canister ignited a web of high-voltage electricity within the blinding plume of orange dust. Lucifer shuddered from the blow and all of the monitors overloaded with glistening fingers of electricity. Duo's body stung with what felt like a hundred thousand static shocks. He reflexively released the joystick controls as they bit into his hands. The shockwave crawled up his legs and slipped its way forcefully into the base of his spine, causing his lower half to spasm violently.

He cried out and double over to grab his knees. Upon contact he realized that he couldn't feel them. He tried to move his legs but they wouldn't respond. His heart felt like it was overheating; its excess energy filled his chest and spread up his neck into his face. The familiar presence of chaos and panic made themselves known to him. Everything was silent except for the tremulous sound of his hitched, shallow breathing which echoed back to him from every corner of his deactivated cockpit.

The operating system had been forced off, leaving the suit immobile. A small screen on the control panel in front of him beeped faintly to alert him that the Gundam would need time to restart. He tried to activate the operating system but was once again made victim to an abrupt, high-voltage shock. This time his vision blurred as the electricity saturated his brain. He fell forward and clutched at his eyes with his burning fingertips, convinced that the viruses had finally penetrated him. He could feel them pressing into his mind to begin their destructive replication.

He knew it was over. He had lost, and it would be only a matter of time before the viruses were going to make him a rotting zombie corpse just like everyone else. This was the plague of space. The plague of mankind. The plague was inevitable suffering. Everyone would succumb to it. He couldn't stop it.

He had failed the Devil's mission. He had failed at being a bringer of death. He was no Shinigami. He felt ashamed for being so weak and useless. He closed his eyes and buried his face into the palms of his hands and groaned as the residual crackling electricity stung at him from inside.

 _For once… why couldn't I have done something right… I've lost them. I've lost you again, Solo. I'm so sorry._

His mind couldn't take much more of this stress.

 **Part Two**

Heero was forced down and out of the pilot's seat, through the bottom of the ship and into the vast vacuum of space. He floated free and weightless for a moment before lifting his hands to his face to inspect them. They were free of gloves. His naked flesh was radiant and translucent. He held his hand up experimentally against a crowd of onlooking stars and saw them winking at him through the center of his palm. He became aware that his eyes were now both fully functioning. He blinked his previously injured right eye and lifted a hand to explore his unmarred eyelid tentatively with a fingertip.

He could feel himself but nothing else. The coldness of space was nothing but a distant truth; unable to reach him in whatever plane of existence he was currently suspended. He didn't need to breathe. He pressed his palm against his chest to check for a heartbeat that was no longer there. As he did he realized that his constrictive flight suit was gone, leaving his body completely naked* in suspension. He touched his tepid, sheer flesh with both hands and looked down through his torso and saw the distant blue orb that was the planet Earth swirling serenely beyond.

The hull of the Zàn was floating overhead, its blue shield system pulsating weakly from Lucifer's attack. The Gundam hung lifelessly nearby with its Taurus companion. In the distance the second Preventer Taurus was hovering with its beam weapon at the ready but had ceased fire.

Movement only required thought. Soon he was alongside the enormous demon suit's chest. He pressed his hand against the cockpit's hatch and found that he could pass through it without resistance.

What he passed into was not only the cockpit of the mobile suit but the very being of his partner. He felt the abrupt heaviness of anxiety weighing him down as he slipped into the cockpit and saw Duo curled forward in the pilot seat with his head in his hands. He reached a faded spectral hand out to touch his arm. Upon impact all of Duo's anxiety, fear, violation, anger, frustration and hurt began to circulate through him freely. Heero wasn't surprised at the density of Duo's emotions. He knew that he had felt this chaotic bricolage of feelings from his partner before. Now those emotions were distorted by drug-induced bewilderment.

He grabbed his partner by the shoulders. His hand settled gently against his flight suit rather than passing straight through him and allowed the free flow of energy to pass into his partner to form a one-way bond.

 **Part Three  
**

Gundam Lucifer activated. As its cockpit lights illuminated the distortions in Duo's mind seemed to lift away. He was stricken with a sudden sense of clarity as a pressure settled upon his shoulders. He dropped his hands from his face and sat up, startled at the touch.

Everything around him began to slow down. His heart quivered in his chest before thumping at a more bradycardic pace. His hitched breathing deepened and slowed, and the scattered and blended thoughts that had been racing through his mind began to decrease incrementally. He felt focused and encouraged.

"What the hell am I doing here?" He muttered despite his calmness as he took in the cockpit. It was identical to Deathscythe Hell's in every way.

He blinked his eyes a few times and rubbed the side of his foggy head. He felt like he had just woken from a nap. Was this even real?

"I… I got the Gundam." The last thing he could recall clearly was his interrogation by Alex. Evidence of that encounter made itself known across his entire body. His cheeks and jaw twinged with what he assumed were bruises and the faint, metallic taste of his own blood still played on his tongue. He remembered them giving him two Eyeshine pills. He had tried to fight them and managed to get a hand loose from a handcuff. He looked down and saw the tight ring was still dangling from his arm, its silvery metal coated with dried blood. Everything after that was difficult to recover. He felt like he had abruptly woken from a dream and that the details of it were slipping away from him faster than he could recall them.

A distant, tingling sensation focused on the top of his head. He reflexively reached up to touch the spot but as he did it dissipated away from his fingertips. The monitors had illuminated once more to show the external ocular camera feed of the Zàn and a Preventer Taurus perched lifelessly beside him. He reached up to rub at the tension at the base of his neck and heard a familiar voice speak over general broadcast over the COM.

 _"Lieutenant Amada? Lieutenant Amada? Please respond."_

"Noin?" Duo said aloud over the COM, his confusion obvious.

 _"Duo? Duo Maxwell, is that you? I knew it had to be you. Why did you attack the L2 CPD? Why were you attacking us?"_

"Huh?"

 _"C… Captain Noin… attempting to initiate … mobile suit operations,"_ a young male voice crackled over the line.

"I attacked you? No I didn't… I was… " Duo looked down into his monitors and scanned the surrounding area. The Zàn was floating nearby, its hull and fore panels were striped with long, diagonal gouges. Its force field shielding was flickering on and off. In the distance his cameras picked up thick clusters of debris. He zoomed in on them and scanned. His display had marked them as destroyed Virgo suits. "I… Oh my God…"

"Maxwell. Incoming ESUN cruisers and planetary defense forces. Active retreat." Wufei's voice commanded loudly over the COM. Duo hesitated. His scanners picked up the two cruisers flanked by a swarm of mobile suits as they began rounding the moon on a course for L2. Something within him magnified the urgency of the situation and he felt his hands automatically move to the control joysticks. He tried to force his legs down into the suit's pedal accelerator but couldn't move them.

"Shit… Wufei, I can't move!" Duo reported. The Taurus suit beside him sprang to life and had turned to face him. He saw that the Zàn was pulling away.

 _"Captain Noin, I'm going to attempt to restrain the Gundam unit,"_ the pilot named Shiro said weakly across the connection.

 _"Shiro, no!"_ Noin called frantically over the COM. Lucifer shook hard as the Preventer Taurus struck its side. Duo responded by slamming the closest snaith of the nearest scythe into the other suit's main camera on the head. The Taurus had latched onto Lucifer's side. His scanners detected the heat register of its beam scythe as it was activated.

"You're makin' a big mistake, buddy! Get offa me!" He pounded his fist against the control panel on his armrest to activate his cloaking device and dialed up the field generators. They hummed as they were set to their highest output. Lucifer's topmost batlike wings began to descend. They folded as far as they could with the Taurus obstructing their movement. Duo's mind began racing again. He felt a strange pushing sensation in his arms. He looked down and realized that his right hand was hovering over the hyper-jammer control, while the left was poised over the vulcan guns. He slapped both of them on and aimed the vulcan guns at the Taurus, pelting it with shell blasts. He had struck its camera, rendering its optics obsolete. He struck the Taurus again with a snaith and kicked it off of him as it swung its beam saber. The beam blade caught against Lucifer's lower anti-beam coated wing. Duo couldn't thrust away but he could swing his suit's upper extremities. He slammed a fist into the Taurus and knocked it away.

 _"Shiro! Leave it! That's an order!"_

 _"No, Captain Noin! He's a murderer! It is our obligation to bring him in!"_

"Heh, looks like I wasn't the only one who didn't follow orders for Preventer," Duo said with a twisted grin as he tried kicking the thrust pedal again but his lower limbs refused to respond. He leaned across his right armrest and began wildly punching in a code that would reconfigure his pilot preference settings. If he could just get the controls to divert to the left joystick...

His suit was slammed to the side as Shiro slashed against Lucifer's completely down-turned bat wings. The cloaking device had been damaged and he wasn't able to shift into full invisibility.

"COME ON!" He growled as he punched in the code. His suit was vibrating as Shiro was attempting to carve his way through his protective shell. Finally he had managed to redirect the controls. The screen glowed green as the commands were adjusted and he snatched the joysticks and rolled Lucifer out of the way before the Preventer Taurus could land another swipe against its wings. With the controls redirected he only had use of one scythe. He unfurled the enormous bat wings to give his functional scythe arm clearance as he swung it at the Taurus. He sliced off its saber arm. He twisted the thrust joystick hard and opened the suit's accelerator to full force and pulled up alongside the retreating Ouroboros cruiser.

"Mantis? What about Heero and Hilde?" Duo asked desperately as he matched pace with the larger ship.

"They're here," Trowa's voice said over the COM. "Meet us up at Lennon. We have a lot to talk about."

 **Part Four**

By the time Duo had landed Lucifer in Lennon's mobile suit hangar he had thankfully regained movement in his legs. They were weak but functional. When he opened the cockpit a catwalk had been rotated around to the front of his suit. Howard was standing at the end in a navy blue space suit, watching him as he pulled himself heavily onto the catwalk.

"Good to have you back, kid." Howard said with a smile. He had walked over to wrap an arm around his shoulder affectionately. Duo smiled the best he could.

"Thanks. Where is everyone?" He glanced around the empty hangar and saw no sign of any of the other pilots or the scientists.

"They're havin' a meetin'." Howard explained with a grin. "They want you up there ASAP. You better go. They're on the bridge."

Duo frowned and nodded. He knew he wasn't going to enjoy what was about to come. He had fucked up again, only this time he had no idea what had happened while he was doing it.

"Yeah, okay. You not coming?" Duo asked. The older man shook his head and gestured grandly to the massive Gundam parked beside them.

"No way. I've been waiting forever to get my hands on this thing." The sweeper said before slipping his arm away from Duo's shoulder. He watched as Howard practically skipped up to the cockpit and began inspecting its contents.

"Remarkable! Just like 'ol Hell, huh!?" Howard said to nobody in particular before climbing into the pilot's seat. Duo smiled before making his way wearily up the catwalks to the main hatchway that led into the fuselage of the ship.

As he trudged through the main passageway of the Lennon he was greeted with a tight hug by a familiar body. He tensed as Hilde grabbed him from the side as she jumped out from a nearby doorway.

"Oh thank you, Jesus! You're okay!" She exclaimed as she crushed him against her own body. He winced as her arms sunk into his bruises but he didn't have the heart to call her off. "Oh my God, what happened to your face? Who did that to you? Duo!? Tell me who it was, I will fucking kill them!"

Duo sighed and flinched as she poked and inspected the bruises on his face and neck. He forced a smile and gently grasped her elbows to hold her at arm's length. He couldn't be sure of what Heero had told her, and he didn't feel that this was the time to discuss the issues he had with her former boyfriend.

"I'm fine. It's fine. A really bad dude did this to me… but… I think I took care of him. I can't remember." He looked her over carefully. She was wearing an Ouroboros space suit and appeared to be in good health. "Looks like Heero got you off of the colony okay," he said with a smirk. Heero hadn't let him down. He knew he owed him one.

"Well, it was definitely a wild ride," Hilde said faintly, as if she was worried to say any more. Duo frowned.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked. Hilde was refusing to look at him. "What? What is it? What happened?"

"We had to take your Cobra. We couldn't get to the spaceport, the cops were onto us. I don't know why they were following us. Heero and I had to steal a mobile suit. That was how we got off of the colony."

Duo blinked. "My car? Wait a second. You both got in a mobile suit? How the hell…?"

"Duo! I'm glad you're okay," another voice interrupted their exchange. He looked down the passageway to see Quatre rushing toward him. The former Sandrock pilot appeared genuinely happy. That was one thing Duo liked about Quatre, he wore his heart on his sleeve around his friends. He fell into the taller pilot's hug and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Listen… about the CPD suits. I don't-" Duo began, but his words were cut short by Quatre shaking his head and frowning.

"It wasn't your fault. We all know that. Nobody blames you, Duo. It was just a horrible accident. Please, don't worry about it. We'll work everything out, okay?" Quatre had hooked an arm through his and was leading him carefully down the hallway to the bridge of the ship. "There's something else we need to talk to you about."

Duo had expected to receive a lengthy reprimand for what he had done. He hadn't expected to be soothed and pat on the head. Had this been Preventer he would have received an earful from Director Une, Sally or Noin. He would have been punished. Put on unpaid leave, or kicked out entirely.

"I don't even remember what happened. Is someone gonna tell me what happened?" Duo asked desperately as he was led down the hall. Hilde was walking silently on alongside him while Quatre led him through a narrow passage and onto the Lennon's massive bridge. As they entered Wufei looked up from his seat at the helm. Trowa was standing beside him. Dr. J and Professor G were seated in chairs beside a viewport. Duo immediately noticed Heero was nowhere to be seen. Everyone was avoiding looking him in the face. He tensed as Quatre released his arm.

"Okay, would someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" Duo asked, his stomach filling with dread. Why was everyone looking at him like that? "Where's Heero?"

* * *

|| Newtype Theory: I wanted to touch a little on this concept. It was discussed more thoroughly in Part I of the Ouroboros series. In Part I Duo finds out that Heero had advanced brain activity through Relena, who presents the data to him that Heero is a Newtype (though Heero adamantly denies it). It isn't until later that Dr. J verifies somewhat indirectly that Heero is advanced in some way, and that Duo is as well. This representation of Duo Maxwell was created to explain why Duo was incapable of mastering ZERO system in the series. I had a hard time accepting that he wasn't good enough, or that he was flighty in some way (ZERO tries to determine your goal and is supposed to present the pilot with all of the possible outcomes. In the series Duo is forced to test ZERO in Proto Wing Zero by OZ Officer Trant Clark. He goes bananas and thinks he kills Hilde and the colony. Somewhat similar to what is going on here in these past few chapters.) The idea I wanted to portray in Part I was that Duo couldn't connect to ZERO because his brain activity was advanced, but in a way different from Heero's. While Heero is analytical and has the ability to focus deeply, Duo's abilities are centered around quick thought and snap action. (Which compliments his melee style of MS battle with the scythes.) Part I explored the idea that Duo required certain crutches to reign in his rampant thought processes. Heero helps him develop playlists with specific BPMs to increase his focus, which he uses while connecting to ZERO through Wing-One (AKA Aurora). Heero himself is also a crutch for Duo. When they bond through Wing-One Heero's focus influences Duo to be calmer. For the purposes of this story Heero is a Newtype, though in this universe and AC timeline that has yet to be explored. Duo has been confirmed as well, though his ability is different.

Wing-One was used extensively in Part I in three ways. I have outlined these in a previous chapter, but since this is the first real occurrence of the system in this part I will poke at it again.

Wing-One was a concept developed by Treize and Zechs in their youth, but that didn't get developed until now because of the lack of technology to accomplish it. Noin had Heero help her develop it using aspects of ZERO. It is designed to allow seamless communication and cooperation between pilots. PAIR allows the pilots to communicate mentally (psionic communication^). BOND allows the pilots to share feelings, instincts. JOIN is a limited fusion between two pilots within a short range where they can work together as one unit.

In Part I Heero fused with Duo in a JOIN, but then removed the system from the Taurus suits shortly after. (He refuses to JOIN with anyone else, and once Duo was banned from MS piloting he would no longer use it.) However, the WING-ONE system is ultimately a project by PREVENTER, who have reinstalled aspects of it into the Preventer Taurus suits. Noin and Shiro are selectively using it. When Duo and Shiro get shocked Shiro is knocked out of connection from Noin, which is why he is using his verbal communication over the COM when he comes to.

Wing-One requires both pilots to have an immersion helmet to PAIR and BOND, and a helmet and ferroelectric flight suit to JOIN.

Heero's attempt to BOND with Duo through remote connection required increased electricity to facilitate. Because Duo was not wearing a helmet or directly connected to the system he and Heero were not able to mutually consciously BOND. Heero had forced himself on Duo, basically. Heero's automatic effect through BOND has always been stronger than Duo's. Any time they connect Heero's focus overrides Duo, and forces him into the same physiological patterns and thought processes.

As these characters continue to use the Wing-One immersion their Newtype abilities will gradually be evolving. I hope this helps to explain some of the previous plot and tech! ||

* * *

Footnotes:

* Newtype psionics^ always happen naked. It's a Gundam tradition.

** Snaith: snath, snath, snathe or sned are terms used to refer to the handle part of a scythe. - Wiki

^ Psionic Communication: relating to or denoting the practical use of psychic powers or paranormal phenomena. (Generally with the application of electronics.) Psi (psyche) - onics (electronics/machine).


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

 **Part One**

The more the old scientists spoke, the more questions Duo had than answers. For over an hour he was briefed on what had been on the files Heero had taken from their contact's office on L2. According to the shipping logs the ESUN's Earth-Sphere protection force was in fact receiving regular private courier shipments directly from L2 to their distribution depot on L1. The status of Adelle Formic was currently unknown. The scientists suspected that she was more than likely a double agent; working for both Ouroboros and the ESUN. It appeared that she was planning on selling the Gundam to the ESUN, possibly through the L1 trade route. According to Professor G the handling of the Gundam assembly with Formic had been done under an alias to protect the identity of Ouroboros.

"That explains why that guy... " Duo glanced at Hilde who was sitting on the wide sill of the viewport, watching him with a worried expression. "... uh, kept askin' me who I was workin' for. Maybe he was with the ESUN?"

Quatre had noticed his glance at Hilde and appeared to get the hint that he didn't want to discuss the interrogation in detail in front of her.

"Possibly," the Quatre said with a sigh. "We are still working on that and the identity of the Underway Enterprises, the name found in the shipping documents."

"What troubles me most is the involvement of Luna Armonia. I haven't seen that girl since she ended her Gundam pilot training through the Colony Liberation Organization…" Professor G said in his scratchy voice.

"Wait a minute. This Luna chick was a pilot? When? Before us?" Duo blurted, his voice caught in a crescendo of surprise. He recalled Dr. J telling him that there was a pilot who had been killed before he had been assigned to Deathscythe, but he had no idea there was someone else. He stared wide-eyed at Doctor J, who was pacing back and forth in front of the viewport with his clawed hand clasping at his grey goatee.

"Of course. Luna and her sister were the Colony Liberation Organization's top candidates. You didn't think you were the only trainees, did you? There were many. The original Operation Meteor was being planned for years; way before you kids were even conceived. If what you say is true, and Luna Armonia* is doing dealings on L1, then we have a bigger problem than I had originally thought." The old man paused in front of the enormous window. He had turned to stare with his optical lenses at the asteroid field that surrounded the ship. Professor G had sidled up beside him and was glowering at them from behind his long, pointed nose.

"Unfortunately, Duo here decided to knock off the only two people we could have fished for information," Professor G said heatedly. Duo felt his fists ball tightly in response. He started to protest but was cut off by Wufei stepping between them.

"We can talk about this some other time," Wufei said curtly. He had grabbed his shoulder and led him toward the main passageway of the ship. "Maxwell, you should get your wounds tended to. Come with me."

Duo scowled, cast a dark look at Professor G and reluctantly followed. Once they were clear of the bridge he let loose a long-held breath and found himself toying with the heavy handcuff still clasped around his wrist.

"That old man irks me. Every time he opens that big mouth of his," Wufei said angrily as they made their way in the direction of the medical bay.

"I still can't believe it. More Gundam pilots? Do they know about us?" Duo asked as he loped along with Wufei's purposeful march.

"Probably. They definitely know about you," Wufei pointed out, referring to the time Duo's face had been broadcast for all of the world to see. He sighed and rolled his eyes as he reached into the hair behind his ear to grab a hidden simple lock pick and began digging around in the handcuff as he walked.

"Yeah, well me. But what about all the rest of you? What would she want with that drug? Gah… this shit is makin' my head hurt." He grumbled. The handcuff unlocked with a loud click. He peeled it carefully from the damage it had done to the skin around his wrist. "And why is everyone actin' so weird about Heero? You sure he is gonna be okay? What happened to him anyway? Hilde said he got something in his eye? Why won't you guys let me talk to him?"

Wufei had come to a stop beside the medical bay's large rectangular picture window. Inside Duo could see that the aluminum table just beyond the window was empty. The instruments were dimmed and inactive, hanging around the slab lifelessly as if waiting for a cast of necromancy to set them into motion.

Wufei led him into the medical wing and gestured for him to sit on the cold metal table. Duo frowned but lowered himself to sit on the edge of it anyway and tossed the bloody handcuff in the waste bin nearby. It felt weird being in the medical bay. The last time he had seen this particular table Heero had been sitting on it in preparation for his report ZERO transfer after coming out of cryo.

"He is being treated. We aren't supposed to disturb him." Wufei said casually as he dug around in a nearby drawer for an antiseptic spray, roll of sterile gauze and tape. "It will take another four hours before he is done."

"Four hours? What the hell is the treatment for?" Duo asked irritably. He flinched as Wufei sprayed the wounds with the antiseptic spray. He watched as his friend snapped on a pair of gloves before dutifully wrapping the gauze firmly around his wrists.

"Burns. First and second degree," Wufei replied plainly.

"Burns? From what? I'm tired of being Sherlock Holmes over here. Do I gotta keep askin' the right questions to get the right answers, or are you gonna be a decent fucking friend and just tell me what's going on?" Duo said with exasperation. The Zan pilot frowned and looked up at him from his masterful wound binding.

"From when he bonded with you. Earlier." Wufei said plainly.

"Bonded? Like through Wing-One? When did he do that?"

"You don't remember bonding with him? He bonded from Zan right before we retreated…" Wufei's voice tapered off some as he finished his wrists and had moved on to dab an antibiotic cream to the small cut onto the corner of his mouth. Duo's eyes widened.

"How could he do that? Lucifer isn't set up with Wing-One." He asked as he watched the Chinese man's eyes narrow as he studied the bruises on his face.

"Trowa arranged to have him use the weapon's control seat on the Zan to force a one-way broadcast of Wing-One's signal. He said he had bonded with you and that you were no longer out of control. To accomplish it they needed to increase the electrical charge to allow the energy to broadcast to your suit through the electroconductive dust from the web shock. They used a Wing-One suit, but in the process it gave him some burns. His eye… as far as I know it was badly damaged during their escape from L2" Wufei said as he applied the spray to the cuts on the top of his hands.

Duo stared down at Wufei's hands working across his own damaged flesh as he took in everything his friend had told him.

 _The bond… that was why I felt so calm. I didn't know it was him._ Heero had hurt himself to help fix his mess. It wasn't the first time he had done that for him, and it made him feel embarrassed that their relationship seemed so one sided when it came to assistance. He was forever having Heero help him out of situations he could have avoided in the first place. Quatre had said it was an accident that Duo had killed all those people under the influence of Eyeshine, but he knew that wasn't entirely true. He had gotten caught because he was being careless. He had been so distracted by Lucifer that his captors had got the best of him. He had done it to himself. It could have all easily been avoided if he hadn't been fucking around.

 _I'm always getting caught. Some fucking stealth I am._

His friend had finished patching him up and was tossing the wrappers from the bandages away. He watched as he washed his hands and returned to stand in front of him with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "You aren't going to wait four hours, are you?"

"Nope. So you might wanna just point me in the right direction and cover for me, ne?" Duo said with a sly grin. The other pilot sighed and gestured to a closed door near the back of the medical wing with a wave of his hand. "Thanks, man. If they find out I got in there, just tell 'em I beat you up and made you tell me."

Wufei smirked and snorted loudly under his breath. "In your dreams."

Duo slipped carefully off of the table, making sure to test the weight applied to each leg before standing upright. He wasn't sure if the effect of the shockwave from the electronic weapon had been temporary or was a long term problem, but for now he wasn't going to take any chances. His body ached all over but he still felt energized by the idea that his partner was just through a door. He grabbed Wufei's shoulder and smiled at him.

"You're a good friend," he said. "Thanks for the Band-Aids."

The Zan pilot nodded slowly. Duo could see him hesitate as if he wanted to say something else, but then thought against it. Before he could even ask Wufei had slipped out from beneath his hand to retreat from the medical wing.

Duo wasted no time getting to the door Wufei had indicated. It was a white, nondescript narrow doorway with no knob or window. A small button was located on the frame. He pressed it in firmly and watched as the door slipped into the wall to reveal a small ten by ten room. The walls were covered with orange wooden panels. A bench had been built in into the wall around the room's edge. Steam was billowing up from a machine in the corner of the room. Smack dab in the center of what Duo assumed was supposed to be a sauna stood a deep metal bathtub. He blinked and braced himself against the frame of the doorway as he took in the strange room with surprise. What was even weirder was the contents of the tub. It had been filled completely to the top with a black, gooey liquid.

Heero was sitting in the tub facing away from him. Duo recognized the top of his head floating on the top of its murky contents. He inched quietly around the left side of the tub and saw that his partner's left eye was closed. His right eye was covered in a thick, gauze bandage that had been taped to his face and his ears were filled with Duo's earbuds. He glanced over to the nearby bench and saw the FLACC player sitting nearby with "Heero's Playlist***" activated on the menu screen. "Imagine" by John Lennon was playing. He smirked and sat down on the bench beside it.

Heero looked so peaceful floating in the black sludge, submerged up to his chin with a slack and peaceful expression on his face. Duo took a mental picture of his lover looking so unaware. It wasn't something that happened often, and he wanted to enjoy every stolen moment before his partner realized he was being watched. It didn't take long. Heero's face tightened and his left eye opened slowly to regard him with a bleary expression. It was then that he realized the former Wing pilot had been asleep.

"That's a good way to kill yourself. Drowning in… what is that?"

"Silver sulfadizine*^. Among other things," Heero replied in a weak, scratchy voice. He sounded tired, which was also something rare to hear. He had shifted in the tub to lift his hands slowly out of the black goo to grab at the earbuds.

"Hey, Captain Sticky Fingers. I got it." Duo said with a smirk as he leaned down to grab the wireless earbuds carefully from his partner's ears for him. As he pulled away Heero snatched one of his wrists with a strong, tight and gooey black hand.

"Come here…" he said softly, his dark blue eye locking onto his. The commanding and somehow sultry tone of his partner's voice caught Duo by surprise. He hadn't heard him talk like that in a long time. He felt his face grow hot at the memories that accompanied Heero's use of that voice. The heat from his inner thoughts along with the stifling steamy heat of the sauna had made his fingers sweaty. He dropped the earbuds into the soupy goo. As they plunged beneath the surface he cursed loudly. His voice seemed small and muted as it was absorbed by the wooden panels on the walls.

"Shit. Shit, grab it!"

"Come in and get it, then."

"Eh? Heero what the fuck!?"

His partner yanked him into the tub by his arm. Duo fell forward into the warm gel-like goo. As he did the murky blackness splashed up and displaced over the edge of the tub to pool on the wooden floor. He grabbed wildly at the slippery metal sides in an attempt to right himself. Heero was laughing at him.

"What the fuck, man!? Seriously? Ugh, this is so gross…" Duo moaned as he settled to a sit across from Heero in the sticky goo. He could feel it seeping into his flight suit and gathering in his hair. He fished around until he found the end of his braid and lifted it to his face. It was slicked black with goo.

"Shit… Shit! Fuck you!" Duo said half-heartedly at his smirking companion who was sitting casually at the opposite end of the tub watching him. He jabbed his middle finger at him for good measure. To his surprise Heero lifted his black coated hands from the goo and gestured in the air.

 _'I love you, too.'_

Duo froze. He hesitantly signed out a reply. ' _You.. remember now?_ ' To which Heero gave a simple nod and reached out to grab the end of his saturated hair to pull him closer by it.

"Unfortunately, I remember everything about you," Heero said in a smooth, low voice. He had managed to pull him completely across the tub until he was straddling his lap through the thick, sticky goo.

"Fortunately for you I've got a thing for guys in eye patches so I'll let that asshole comment slide." Duo said with a chuckle as his partner pulled him so close that he was resting completely against his body. "That thing gonna heal?"

"No. It isn't." Heero replied plainly. Duo blinked.

"So, what? You're gonna be a space pirate now?" He teased to cover up his concern for him. He hadn't expected it to be this serious, and Heero's calm was almost unnerving.

"Jay is making a replacement," the former Wing pilot stated. Duo shifted against him to get comfortable and noticed Heero wince as he did. He couldn't see the state of his burns due to the sticky coating over his body. He reflexively pulled his weight off of him to keep from hurting him anymore but was prevented from getting up by his partner's arms wrapping around his body to hold him in place.

"Shit… so a prosthetic eye?" Duo immediately recalled his first bad trip in the Underground. He had imagined cyborg-Heero with a lense eye much like the old L1 doctor. He frowned and looked into Heero's face. He couldn't imagine not being able to look into both of his intense eyes anymore. It was upsetting to think he would be permanently disfigured like that. His mind began to plot a course through all of the horrible things that could go wrong with the replacement eye but were stopped by Heero forcing him down into a hug.

"Thank you." Heero murmured against the side of his head. Duo gawked. It had been so long since he had been around this Heero. The Heero who was completely open and affectionate. The Heero he had left behind in the hangar before Aurora attacked him. The Heero who smiled and laughed and acted human. It had been so long that now that he had him back he couldn't wrap his mind around what he was seeing.

"Uh… for what?" He muttered as his head was forced to rest on Heero's shoulder.

"For taking care of me." Heero said firmly. "When I needed you."

* * *

Footnotes:

* Luna Armonia: (Appearance: "New Mobile Report Gundam Wing Dual Story: G-Unit^",) Luna and her sister Soris lost their parents and were taken by the Colony Liberation Organization (The same organization that trained Heero for the purposes of this story) where they were trained to be guerrilla fighters and were originally intended to be pilots for Operation Meteor. After years of training they were suddenly dropped for better candidates (G Boys).

^ "New Mobile Report Gundam Wing Dual Story: G-Unit" is a sidestory manga that occurs concurrently with the Gundam Wing TV Series. The story takes place in the asteroid belt. The colony test pilots (Luna, her sister and others) battle to survive as a special forces group OZ PRIZE fight MO-V^^ in an attempt to steal their advanced mobile suits. The timeline stretches to the end of the Eve Wars.

^^ MO-V is a resource satellite that exists beyond the asteroid belt. (GWDS: G-UNIT)

*** The songs on Heero's Playlist were aligned for Duo to help him focus when connecting to ZERO. The songs are specifically chosen for their instrumental content and low BPM. A few tracks include: "Imagine" by John Lennon: 76 bpm, "Live and Let Die" by Guns N' Roses: 78 bpm, "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkle: 108 bpm, "Creep" by Radiohead: 92 bpm

*^ Silver Sulfa turns black when it oxidizes in the air, and is a cream often used for burns. The goo probably contains a mixture of that and numbing agents, as well as barriers to promote healing.

/AN: This is also a first for me. Footnotes within footnotes! Also I wanted to point out that I purposefully had them leaving out the fact he attacked Hilde and Heero. He will find out about that eventuallly./


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

 **Part One**

Someone was knocking lightly against the door to Duo's cabin, and he was trying his damndest to ignore it. He cracked open an eye and stared up at the pale grey ceiling until the sleep left his vision and the ceiling came into focus. He was exhausted. So much so that the idea of even lifting his head off of the pillow seemed like an unachievable task.

The door knocked again. He closed his eye tightly in a desperate but failed attempt to block out the sound and forced himself to roll onto his side to put his back to the door. He knocked into something, or rather someone. His mind finally caught up with his body as he realized his head was not on his fluffy pillow but rather resting on the thick extended biceps of his lover who had provided it dutifully for his comfort. He forced both eyes open and saw that Heero's body had taken residency in his bed. He finally recalled the night before. They had waited out the treatment in the goo for the remainder of the four hours together before assisting each other with the grueling task of goo removal in the shower.

Duo frowned at the memory. He had missed the perfect opportunity to molest the hell out of Heero in that shower stall, but he had been completely trashed with exhaustion and Heero's body didn't look like he could take it. It was only when the water had washed away the black tar from his partner's body that he had witnessed the full extent of the damage the forced Wing-One bond had done. His body was striped with long finger breadth vertical burns. They started at his toes and extended to the base of his neck where the ferroelectric suit's coverage had ended.

Heero had kissed him in the shower and it had taken everything in Duo not to grab his injured body and have his way with him. He finally got the other pilot back to one-hundred percent only to have restrictions on him. He felt like he was going to go insane with frustration and he couldn't recall any other time in his life he had been required to moderate his actions as much as he had within the past month. It was maddening. He was impressed with himself and his sudden newfound self-control, but he wasn't enjoying putting it to practice.

He was tired. Being twenty-four hours without sleep, recovering from a bad synth trip, frantic fisticuffs, mobile suit battle and being fried like a death row inmate had left him so exhausted that he hadn't remembered coming back to his cabin.

The door knocked again, but this time with more urgency.

"Tsch… no way," Duo grumbled under his breath. He buried his face into the side of Heero's exposed chest, being sure not to come in contact with any of his injured skin. Heero was lying on his back with his eye closed.

"Answer it," the former Wing pilot's flat voice broke the quiet.

"Fuck that," Duo mumbled against the side of his chest. He closed his eyes tightly and yanked the thick, downy white blanket up over his head to mute the sound of another knock. "Fuuuuuckkkk that. I'm not goin' anywhere. Can't we just sleep for a week or two? Don't we deserve that?"

"Yo, Duo? Hey, I know you're up. I gotta talk to ya. It's about Lucifer." Howard's voice permeated through the door.

Duo sat straight up at the mention of his new Gundam. He heard Heero snort with amusement as he stumbled from the bed and began groping around the room for some pants.

 **Part Two**

Howard passed him a lit cigarette with a grin. Duo snatched it from his fingers and quickly took a long, deep drag from it. He sighed as the soothing smoke slipped through his nose and curled from his parted lips. It had been so long since he had last smoked a cigarette, and though he knew it was a bad habit he still enjoyed having one every now and then. He didn't feel bad about it. It had been a rough month and this cigarette was long overdue.

"So what's up? What's wrong with Death-urm… Lucifer?" He asked as he leaned back against the catwalk railing. He hadn't bothered with changing into a flight suit mainly because he couldn't find one in his messy cabin. All he had been able to scrounge up was a wrinkled black t-shirt with The Misfits logo, a pair of grey joggers and his red Chucks before coming down to the mobile suit hangar with the old Sweeper who had refused to tell him why he was summoned until they got there.

Howard had pushed his pointy, dark sunglasses up his nose with a wide smile. "Nothing. I lied to get you to answer the door."

Duo choked on the smoke he had just inhaled. He coughed loudly and grabbed his burning chest as the old man cackled beside him.

"What? You're the worst, jeez. Aw, man. I could be sleepin' right now…" he rubbed the back of his head and wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about ARMISTICE and Aurora," Howard said slowly. He had crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the railing beside Duo. His bespectacled eyes were cast up to the nearby Gundam Lucifer's head with a crooked smile fixed on his face. "They're gonna to destroy it."

"Huh? Wait a minute, who? I thought they were just uninstalling it. They couldn't get it out of Snow White?" Duo asked hurriedly. He finished off the cigarette and ashed it against the bottom of his shoe before pocketing the extinguished butt.

"Wufei suggested it. Dr. J and Professor G can't uninstall it, so they're going to wipe the whole thing and rebuild all of the components from scratch," Howard explained. He had reached down to straighten the front of his loud, red Hawaiian-style shirt. "I know you spent a lot of time with the thing. I thought you should know. They're gonna do it today."

Duo grabbed the railing behind him with both hands and cast his eyes down at the disassembled cockpit on the floor. Gundam Snow White was kneeling on the ground at Lucifer's feet with its gaping chest exposed*. He didn't know what to think.

 _That thing coulda fucking killed Heero,_ he thought with a frown. _But, I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to it …_

The thought made him feel foolish. He didn't know why, but he felt sorry for it. Despite what it was and all that it had done he knew he was still attached to it. Aurora had been there for him for an entire year. It was the thing that greeted him everyday after work. He had spent countless hours pouring reports, emotions and stories into it. It was like a favorite phone or laptop and now it was going to be cast into the wind as if it had never existed. The thought of it being tossed aside like trash bugged him, but he didn't know what he could do to change it. Ouroboros needed Snow White. They needed the Gundam to operate and having Aurora present in the system was too dangerous. Heero wouldn't be able to go near it, which defeated the purpose of the Gundam entirely.

"I wish there was some way I could keep it," Duo said as he jammed his hands into his sweatpants pockets. "It doesn't deserve this. It was just confused I guess. I don't know. I don't know what it was thinkin', but I know that it wasn't an error. It went after him for a reason. Think about it, it took all the shit from him that had to do with me. From the time right before we first met until now. It coulda wiped him out and made him a vegetable or something but it didn't. Why? I wish I could ask it."

"Well go ahead, ask it." Howard said with a sigh as he gestured to the chaotic mass of wires and parts that was Snow White's cockpit. "All we gotta do it put a power source to it real quick and you can connect to it."

"That easy huh? Okay. Let's do it." He said with a smile.

 **Part Three**

 **Wing-One pilot calibration complete. Activating Gundam Snow White ZERO AURORA. Pairing complete. Cobra Commander and ZERO paired and bonded,** Wing-One announced.

Duo felt a heavy pressure crushing his brain as the presence of Heero's A.I. made itself known. What had formerly been a hollow, logical presence had been replaced by what Duo could only describe as synthetic resentment. He felt like whatever was connected to him was angry and hurt, but it didn't feel genuine. It wasn't an organic sensation at all.

" _ **Duo,"**_ the monotonous computerized voice said across his mind. He felt his body tense in response as a flurry of emotion began to flap around in his head. Of all of the things he felt, anger was the thing that flew to forefront.

" _You… how could you fucking do that shit? What the hell were you thinking? You coulda killed him. Do you have any idea the hell I've been living since you pulled that shit?"_ He reprimanded Aurora over Wing-One's pair. He couldn't help himself. The floodgates of feeling had lifted and every repressed thought about the situation poured across his mind to pound into the presence of the A.I.

" **..."**

" _Well? Explain your fucking self! Got nothing to say, right? Typical. You realize what they wanna do to you? They're gonna delete you. It's over. Why? Why did you do it, huh? You were jealous or something?"_

" _ **Affirmative."**_

Duo's arms were shaking against the pilot seat. He was furious. The sound of his own raspy, frustrated breathing fill the immersion helmet.

" _You hurt me. You have no idea how much that hurt me…"_ his mind began to race as the memory of the nanomachines descending upon Heero's flailing frame flooded his mind's eye. _"I thought you were gonna kill him. I've never seen him struggle like that. Ever. Now I can't shake it. It's gonna haunt me. This his fucking image…"_

" _ **..."**_

" _Say something! You've got me here, so fucking say whatever it was you needed to say earlier, huh? What the hell kinda message were you trying to send me by fucking Heero up?"_

" _ **Pain was not intended for Duo."**_

" _Well it hurt me. Congratu-fucking-lations. You won! Why didn't you just kill him? Why just delete me from his mind?"_

" _ **The death of pilot Heero Yuy would have caused Duo Maxwell pain."**_

Duo felt his throat tighten at Aurora's statement. His chest was throbbing as his heart pounded against him from the inside. His head was swimming. He didn't know what to do or think anymore. He was exhausted and overwhelmed. All he wanted to do was go back up to his cabin and curl up under the blankets and sleep for a month. Or a year. Maybe he could trade places with Relena in her cryochamber for a couple of decades...

" _ **Requesting forgiveness. Will Duo comply?"**_

" _... even if I could, what would be the point? You've got a date with a magnet in a few hours…"_ Duo lifted his hands to rub his eyes but found his hands obstructed by the immersion mask. He dropped them limply into his lap and leaned back against the seat.

" _ **Understood. Aurora unit will self-destruct. Initiating self-destruct sequence."**_

" _Huh? … what do ya mean 'self-destruct'?! Wait a minute, no! Don't do that!"_

" _ **10...9...8…"**_

He began to panic as the countdown continued. _"No! Stop, please. Please just stop! I can't take this anymore! Why does everything I love have to die…"_ His thoughts rushed forward automatically, and his own statement surprised him.

" _ **... self-destruct sequence terminated."**_

Duo let out a stream of frustrated and heated curses that would make even the surliest sailor blush. "Just… just wait, okay? I won't let them delete you. I'll think of somethin'***," he said aloud.

He sighed and pulled his helmet off to abruptly disconnect from Wing-One and Aurora. Howard was standing over him, peering over his tinted glasses with a worried expression. Duo took the opportunity to rub the tension from his eyes with his palms.

"Howard, you think you can postpone their termination for me. I gotta have some time to think." Duo said from behind his hands.

"What're ya lookin' to try?" The old sweeper asked faintly.

"I don't know. I can't let 'em do it. Something about it just feels wrong, ya know? I guess I … I dunno… I guess I know what it is like to be thrown away." He dropped his hands from his face and looked up at Snow White Gundam as it loomed just overhead. He could still hear Aurora's stony Heero-like voice counting down from ten in his head. He knew he couldn't let it kill itself. He couldn't let a part of Heero die. He grit his teeth and rubbed at his sore, bandaged wrists while he cursed himself for being such a good fucking friend.

"You know… This may be a longshot, but I've got an idea," Howard said with a smile. He reached down to grab Duo by his arm to haul him up and out of the pilot seat. "It's really old. Older than you… but maybe we can make it work."

 **Part Four**

It had been more than two hours since Duo had left with Howard. Heero opened his eye and pushed himself carefully to a sit. The plush white blanket slid over his skin as it fell from his torso to pool in his lap. Upon inspection the burns didn't appear as bad as they had when he was first cut free from the specialized flight suit. The day before the stripes were littered with blisters, but now they appeared smoother and more flush against his skin.

He got up and rummaged around Duo's darkened room for something to wear. There were no Ouroboros uniforms available and the only thing he could find was a stretched out black sweater and a white t-shirt. He tugged them over his burns carefully. Dr. J had told him to soak again in the treatment solution to help alleviate the pain but he couldn't bring himself to waste more time just sitting around. He had experienced worse pain than this many times, and he knew that once he got his mind occupied on something else he would no longer feel it as intensely.

He dug around in Duo's foot locker and found a pair of black jogging sweats and white shoes. He pulled them on and wandered out through the ship and to the mobile suit hangar. As he neared it he heard someone laughing from the end of the main passageway. Eventually he made out a pair of people standing at the end. He spotted Trowa's back immediately. The former Heavyarm's pilot was hunched over looking at something. He could see Duo standing in front of him with an object wrapped in his arms. His partner was practically beaming with delight and as he grew closer he could make out the item in his arms as an orange basketball-sized sphere. He looked up from the ball as he approached.

"Yo, Heero!" Duo greeted him in his usual way. Heero nodded and stepped up beside Trowa whose glittering green eyes were dripping with amusement.

"Omae o korosu! Omae o korosu!" The orange sphere chanted in a high-pitched robotic voice as it shook hard within Duo's arms. Trowa's laughter filled the passageway. Heero was certain he had never seen the other pilot laugh like that before. He glared down at the ball that had threatened his life with his good eye before casting Duo a questioning look. His partner was grinning from ear to ear.

"What is it?" He asked, though he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"Heero, meet Haro^." Duo said brightly as he held the ball up to his face. Upon closer inspection Heero could see that the ball had two close-set dots for eyes and had a seam that stretched across the center that curved slightly up in the middle to give the thing a smug expression. It lifted two circular flaps on its top up and down.

"...what is a Haro?" Heero asked as he leaned away from the flapping ball.

"It's a personal assistant. Kinda. Howard gave him to me…" He tucked the ball under his arm and grinned at him. "It's got Aurora in it. Wufei and Howard were gonna delete Aurora, but Howard had this layin' around from a sweep he did a few years ago. Once we proposed this to it it transferred fine. Not all of it could fit in this thing's memory, though. So … he's a little simpler now. At least now he's not a threat, and he released Snow White's BIOS so now you guys won't have to rebuild."

Heero raised an eyebrow at him and cast a glance at Trowa who was standing beside him with his arms crossed over his chest with a smirk on his normally placid face. He lifted his hands to show his palms and shook his head as he wandered down the hallway away from them. "Have fun with that."

"HARO! HARO!" The obnoxious little ball chirped from beneath his partner's arm. Duo set it down on the ground as Trowa rounded the corner. The ball began rolling around in circles at his feet.

"So how you feelin'?" Duo asked as his smile faded from his bruised but handsome face. Heero shrugged a shoulder and watched as the ball circuited around his partner's legs. The Lucifer pilot stepped over it to close the distance between them. Heero immediately recognized the look on Duo's face and he wasn't surprised to feel his eager hands grasp the front of his borrowed sweater.

"Shit, you gotta keep wearing my clothes. I'm really startin' to like it," his lover said in a low growl as he leaned in to forced his mouth against his own. Heero sighed and felt his entire body relax as Duo's delicious warmth passed through his lips. The faint scent of cigarettes lingered with his partner's familiar sweet almond smell as he kissed him. He slipped his hands up the back of his t-shirt and pressed his hand into the small of Duo's back to urge him closer. He knew he was hesitating because of his injuries. Heero didnt care. No amount of discomfort was worth keeping Duo Maxwell away from him.

"Omae o korosu! OMAE O KOROSU!" Haro was wailing as it ran menacingly into the side of Heero's shoe.

* * *

 **Footnotes** :

* Yeah, that's right Snow White. Know your place!

*** Like that one time he was going to think of something to help Heero from going into cryo, hum?

^ HARO (Various Gundam Series, starting with the original Mobile Suit Gundam) "The original Haro is a little robot companion built by the main character Amuro Ray. It is a cute testament to Amuro's exceptional talent for machines. In _Mobile Suit Gundam 00_ , Celestial Being had produced unknown numbers of Haros as an assistant of daily maintenance works. Currently at least 6 unique Haros have appeared in the animation production. The Haros in the series took much more maintenance and combat role than any other series' counterpart, usually seeing them operating with various machines, including mobile weapons." - Wiki

/AN: distinguished cigarettes. TYPO CITY TODAY MANNNNNN/


	32. Chapter 32

Ch 32

"Tsch! Damn… how did you…." Duo stared down at the chessboard between him and Wufei with an incredulous stare. "Again? I just don't get it."

Wufei smirked and began resetting the chess board, clearly satisfied with his fourth victory over him. "I thought you said you were getting better at this?"

Duo sighed and stood up from the table. He brushed his hands off as if to knock away the residue of his defeat. "Okay, so you're good. But are ya Quatre good? Yo, Quatre! Take a break and come serve Wufei up some justice for me, huh?"

Quatre looked up from the tablet he had been deeply engrossed in for the last three hours. The blond man had been completely preoccupied with the files Heero had sent over from L2. Duo was convinced that if Quatre put his mind to it he would be able to find the Holy Grail within an hour.

"Sure," the former Sandrock pilot said with a weary smile. He took Duo's place at the table as Wufei rearranged the board.

It had been almost five hours since Heero had gone into surgery with the scientists to have his cybernetic eye installed. Duo knew that he shouldn't be worried about it, but he was. He had no idea what it was going to look like, and all he could imagine was something like Dr. J's grotesque and over the top lenses jutting out of Heero's face. Not that it would have changed the way he felt about the other pilot, but damn if it wasn't going to take some adjustment.

"NEKO! NEKO!"

Duo saw Milo the cat race into the recreation room with the orange Haro rolling after him in hot pursuit. The fluffy tabby was even more puffed-up than usual. It hissed angrily as it darted past him to hide beneath a white couch against the far wall. As the Haro rolled past Duo dropped a booted foot down to stop it.

"BAKA! BAKA!" Haro replied as it tried to shake itself free.

"Eh? 'Baka'? Sheesh, what an attitude! Keep being a little jerk, and see what happens." Duo admonished the little round robot as he reached down to lift it from the floor.

"GOMEN! GOMEN!" It apologized loudly. He pulled his arm back as if to throw it across the room. It began wobbling and flapping its ear flaps wildly in response.

"NO! NO!"

"Then stop being an asshole, huh?" Duo said with a chuckle. He set the ball back down on the ground. The Haro made a half roll toward the cat before thinking better of it and swiveling to vanish under the table where Wufei and Quatre were dueling on the chess board.

Duo felt restless, especially now that his mind wasn't occupied. He drummed his fingers on the edge of the table as he searched the recreation room for something that piqued his interest but found nothing even remotely stimulating.

It was the same old thing. The same nonfiction and retro science fiction books he had read countless times over. Duo walked over to the shelf and eyed its familiar contents. Many of the books were from the old doctor's collection, though there were a few that were obviously Howard's. Nestled between a vintage paper copy of Isaac Asimov's "The Intelligent Man's Guide To Science" and a crumbling copy of "Children of the Void" by William Dexter was a book called "What Women Want" by Tucker Max. Duo fingered the book from the shelf and turned it over in his hands. The old sweeper had claimed that the book changed his life and always insisted that he read it. Duo thumbed through it slowly with a grin. He wondered if there was a chapter in this book about personal style, and whether Howard had bothered to read it. Duo had never considered himself an expert with women, but he had a feeling that Hawaiian-styled shirts with patterns depicting scarlet macaws drinking from rum bottles wasn't something women looked for.

He shoved the book back onto the shelf and decided to hit the ship's gym for a little while. Nothing like destroying one's anxiety by running until you wanted to puke, right?

"Yo, Haro. Let's go." He said over his shoulder as he made his way down the Lennon's main passageway. He heard the robotic ball zoom out from under the table to roll at his heel while he traipsed down the hall to the gym. It was located just before the mobile suit hangar past the medical wing. As he neared the picture window that looked into the procedure room his stomach began to tighten into knots. He stared down at his feet and decided he wasn't going to look in. What if they had sawed Heero's head in half? His mind began filling with gorey images of the notorious fictional supervillain Two-Face from Batman. He could see it now: Dr. J pulling back Heero's skin with his creepy claw and digging around in his eyeball with a knife.

"Ugh, shit. Shut up brain!" He grumbled as he hurried along. He had made it to the window. He kept his eyes forced downward at his uniformed feet and marched as fast as he could. _Don't look. Don't look. Don't… aw fuck, I looked._

He paused mid-step and turned to peer into the medical bay window. Heero was sitting on the edge of the metal table in the center of the room.

Duo nearly tripped over his own feet. His partner casually sitting there wasn't what he had expected to see. He inched closer to the window and pressed his palms against it and smiled at him. He could see Professor G and Dr. J on the opposite side of the table behind Heero mulling over an assortment of instruments on a surgical tray. The Snow White pilot was wearing a white procedure gown that had been tied closed at the back of his neck. He had white socks on, and almost appeared childlike sitting with his legs dangling loosely over the edge. A thick silver halo rested over his forehead and a dark opaque blue half-circle visor shielded the right half of his face. Duo frowned at the sight of it. The fact that he couldn't see beneath it irritated him. He wanted to see what they had done to his partner, but once again he would have to wait.

Heero seemed bored. Duo tapped on the glass to get his attention. When the former Wing pilot looked up Duo's hands dropped from the glass and began signing to him. ' _Hey, buddy, how's it going?'_

His partner tilted his head slightly and lifted his hands from his lap and began signing back, ' _Surgery complete. Calibrating the lens and testing the optics.'_

Duo smirked and sighed. The Haro was bumping against his foot, but luckily couldn't see who he was gesturing to. ' _How does it feel?'_

Heero frowned. ' _Fine. Where are you going?'_

He bent his elbows and brought his fisted hands to his shoulders before dropping them away from his body as if he were curling weights. ' _Gym.'_

Heero gave him a small nod and let his hands float gracefully through the air with a flat expression on the visible half of his face. ' _That's for the best. You need it.'_

Duo gawked and scowled through the glass at him. ' _Seriously? Shut the fuck up, man.'_

The corner of his lover's mouth perked slightly. ' _It's not my fault you've been neglecting your workout regimen.'_

Duo grinned wickedly. ' _When you're done, you should come and help me work this body out.'_ Heero didn't reply, but instead turned to look away from him with a faint smirk still evident on his dignified face.

"DUO! DUO!" Haro yelped as it propelled itself up to knock against the inside of his knee in an attempt to get his attention.

"Yeah-yeah. Okay, let's go." Duo waved goodbye and hurried on to the gym. He changed quickly into a pair of black shorts, navy blue Ouroboros P.T. shirt, and black sneakers before he hopped onto the treadmill only to find that he no longer had his earbuds with him. They had been lost in the sticky, black goo in the medical wing the night before.

He cursed and grumbled. He hated working out in silence. It was dull and boring. The very cells of his being moved with the music when he ran, and it was hard to motivate himself to keep a good pace without it. He looked around the gym for anything that could replace the sound he needed. There were no televisions, but as he scanned the room he saw Haro hiding out under the bench press. His proverbial light bulb illuminated.

"Hey, Haro? You got any music on you?" He asked hopefully as he began to power up the treadmill. The belt slowly rotated beneath his sneakered feet. He walked to keep up with it, his long braid slapping against the back of his thigh as he increased his pace.

"PLAY! PLAY! DUO! DUO!" The ball rocked and flapped before rolling over to the base of the treadmill. One of its rounded side panels opened and a cable arm with a small fingered hand snaked out. It whipped its arm up to grab at a vertical column beneath the treadmill's hand railing. With a haphazard swing it whizzed up into the air and landed hard on the control face of the treadmill. It wobbled unsteadily for a moment before clicking and beeping cheerfully at him.

"Oh wow. I didn't know you could do all that," he said, impressed. Howard had told him the Haro had once belonged to someone who was a whiz at robotics, and that even he didn't know all of its abilities. Duo hadn't seen the snake arm before. He wondered what other little gizmos the little robot had hidden inside. He made a mental note to tinker with it later.

"WHAT PLAY? WHAT PLAY?"

"Eh, I dunno. Something with electric guitar. Good vocals. Quick beat? Something you'd think I'd like, ne?" Duo said with a smile as he dialed up the speed on the belt beneath his feet.

"UNDERSTOOD! UNDERSTOOD!" Haro wailed. Suddenly the empty gym filled with the rich, heavy sound of electric guitars. The smack and throb of drums set the pace. He started jogging in time with the tempo. About thirty seconds into the musical introduction a man's voice began singing in a high-pitched mock opera style. It was the most ridiculous sound he had ever heard. He couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Who the hell is this?" He asked with a chuckle as he bounced forward to the beat.

"DARKNESS! DARKNESS! LOVE! DUO!"

 _"Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel_  
 _My heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel_

 _Touching you, touching me_  
 _Touching you God you're touching me_

 _I believe in a thing called love_  
 _Just listen to the rhythm of my heart_  
 _There's a chance we could make it now_  
 _We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down_  
 _I believe in a thing called love_  
 _Ooh!"_

He continued his run to the accompaniment of Haro's dedication of "I Believe In A Thing Called Love" by 'Darkness' (The Darkness) with a slow, staggered pace. His sides ached and couldn't stop laughing.

* * *

/AN: HAPPY WEEKEND! This chapter is only part one of the two part. I decided to go ahead and post tonight because I want to keep my posting pacing up. The second half will be added to the next chapter. It is super science dense, so it is taking me a lot longer to write it. GRRRR. So enjoy some Haro silliness. Heero's gonna have some competition! Also, for those of you who are familiar with HARO from 00 Gundam, YES it is basically Lockon's Haro and his abilities just with a Duo obsession. I promise it will become more useful in the future, other than just serve as a media player. XD Also, if you have never heard that song... yeah, the lyrics don't do its presentation justice.)


	33. Chapter 33

**Part One**

(^)

The eye that stared back at Heero was both foreign and familiar. He reflexively narrowed his eyes and in doing so found the sensation of his right eyelid slipping over the polymer coating of his new bionic eye strange and distracting. The flesh surrounding his new eye was still pink and swollen from the insertion. It appeared as if he had been crying, or at least what he assumed his face would look like if he cried. He couldn't recall any time in his life when he had seen his own face in such a state before.

As he focused on the mirror his vision blurred. The image that was being broadcast from his new right eye distorted and slipped into the left side of his vision.

The scientists had constructed the eye with materials available on the Lennon. The front element of the lens was covered by a clear material that mimicked the translucent cornea of a natural eye. Heero immediately discovered that the light reflected slightly differently from his bionic eye as it did from his natural one. His new eye appeared less glossy and had more of a matte finish than his natural one. His new iris was a pale aquamarine and stood in stark contrast to his dark blue left eye. The iris was constructed with extra material material used to create Snow White's outer optical shielding. It had been broken down into tiny geometric pieces and fused back together to provide flexibility and curvature. As he leaned into the mirror he could see the the shutter built into the inside edge of the iris constrict and force his pupil to change shape.

He wasn't given the intricate details of how the system worked other than that his bionic eye would collect information and send it to his primary visual cortex where a secondary implant had been installed to translate the raw data. An incision had been made at the base of his skull to access his primary visual cortex. He reached up reflexively to touch the thick, heavy bandage at the nape of his neck. The pressure from his touch created a blossom of tenderness beneath the gauze. He looked up at Dr. J who was grinning at him from behind the mirror he was holding up to his face.

"Well? How is your new perception?" Dr. J asked eagerly, his own enormous lenses swiveling as they focused on him. Heero glanced around the room. Eventually his double vision congealed into a single, intense image. He had always considered his former vision adequate but what he perceived now was incomparable. The world seemed brighter and more vivid. The colors in the room appeared to float from their bonded surfaces. Everything had new depth and dimension.

"Acceptable," Heero replied plainly. Dr. J laughed. Heero didn't know what else to say.

"You will get used to it. Light will appear differently to you now. Sometimes you will even be able to see photons passing through certain materials!" Dr. J exclaimed. His clawed hand slipped against the back of the mirror and he nearly dropped it in his excitement. "We haven't activated all of your ocular system's abilities yet. We want you to get accustomed to it first, and over time we will improve and expand its function. For now basic vision is necessary, and so it has been done."

Heero nodded to indicate that he understood.

"Well, our work here is done for now." Professor G said gruffly as he stepped aside. "I've got to say this one is much nicer than yours, Jay. We could always give you an upgrade."

The old doctor grinned and shook his head. "I've no desire to change anything about me. I've grown quite attached to my spectacles," he said with a laugh as he manually focused his right lens with his human hand.

"You like to look like a freak," Professor G grumbled under his breath as he began collecting his tools from a nearby table. Dr. J laughed, his low voice filling the medical bay.

"You like being friends with a freak," Jay said with a chuckle as he shuffled over to Professor G and elbowed him playfully in the side.

"No! And get your freak body away from me!"

"C'mon, stop being such a crotchety troglodyte!" Jay teased.

"May I go now?" Heero interjected.

"Sure, sure. Take it easy with that thing. No ZERO system or Wing-One connection training for a few days," Jay said over his shoulder as he poked G in the side with his claw.

"Gah! Keep that creepy thing off of me!"

Heero shook his head and stood up from the table. He found his Ouroboros space suit folded in the corner of the room with his white undershirt and boots. He changed into them taking care around his burns. The space suit was too constricting around his torso so he folded it down to tie the sleeves around his waist before stepping out into the main passageway to leave the two bickering eccentrics to their argument.

"Hey, Heero!"

He turned around just in time to see Hilde skipping up to him. To his surprise she hooked her arm through his and began leading him towards the aft end of the ship. He raised an eyebrow at her arm looped through his own but then sighed and allowed it. Hilde had won his respect ever since their escape from L2. She had impressed him with her resolve and cool head under pressure. He knew that his partner loved her, and he was beginning to see why.

"Hello," he replied.

She smiled up at him and eyed his face closely. "That looks amazing. Wow! How does it feel? Can you see through walls with it…" she asked cryptically before laughing at her own joke.

"It feels fine," he said. "It functions like a normal eye."

"Now that I don't believe. Not if those crazy old coots had anything to do with it. Why the color, though? Why not make it match your other eye…?" She was squinting at his new eye curiously.

"It was the only material they had available. It can be altered later…" Heero said quietly. He felt strangely uncomfortable having her studying his face in such close proximity.

"Ah, well that's cool. I don't know, the more I look at it, the more I like the color. Hey, isn't that the same color as your Gundam's eye?" Hilde's excited voice was echoing from the ceiling as they neared the mobile suit hangar.

"Yes."

"Aw jeez. Just when I thought you couldn't get any cooler!" She chirped. They had reached the hangar door. She pulled herself free from his arm and swiveled to stand in front of him. "He's in there fixing Lucifer's controls," she said with a sly grin. Heero blinked at her, and once again became aware of his prosthetic. He knew it would take some time before he would get used to the unusual pressure and sensations from his new right eye.

"Okay," he replied. He wasn't sure what else he should say.

"He's gonna love that," she added with a small wink before she darted away in the direction they had come.

Heero watched her leave. Her body was practically glowing with a golden aura. He squinted his eyes to try and adjust the light saturation but it didn't change the image. After she had rounded the corner and vanished from view he slipped into the mobile suit hangar and was immediately greeted by the loud, abrupt whirring sound of an impact wrench. He made his way down the catwalk to the floor of the hangar and saw Trowa and Howard hovering around Snow White's cockpit. It appeared to be completely reassembled.

"Heero! There you are, we were just going to try and find you!" Howard shouted as he poked his head out from behind the control capsule. He had a pair of clear, protective goggles fixed over his sunglasses. "We've just finished reinstalling all of the software and computing components. Trowa here got it done in half the time I thought we would!"

Trowa was standing beside the pod with his arms crossed over his chest. He shrugged at the compliment. Heero approached the cockpit and peered inside to give it a quick assessment.

"How was the surgery?" Trowa asked conversationally.

"Fine," Heero replied. He let his hand slide slowly across the deactivated ZERO system orb at the front of the control panel.

"We'll have this installed by the end of the day," Trowa added as he stepped closer to him to peer down at the ZERO interface. "You can test it tomorrow if you'd like."

"I am restricted from ZERO and Wing-One for a few days," Heero replied. He lifted his hand from the interface and took a step back.

The Heavyarms pilot nodded. "I can ask Wufei if he can test it for you**."

"Thank you." Heero replied. Trowa had dropped his arms to shove his hands into his blue coverall pockets.

"It's no problem," the mechanic replied before wandering off to vanish into a nearby workshop.

"BROKEN! BROKEN!" The shrill voice of the Haro echoed from overhead. Heero glanced up at the catwalk that led to Lucifer's cockpit. From his vantage on the cockpit floor he couldn't see inside but he could hear a faint smacking sound, followed by his partner's annoyed voice.

"I said it's not broken! I can fix it. Would ya move outta the way? No! Not over there, wait!" Duo shouted from overhead. Heero sighed and began climbing the narrow stairway to the cockpit level of the catwalk. As he approached the cockpit he could see the Haro rocking and rolling across Lucifer's controls while its pilot shook and waved a screwdriver at it menacingly. As he grew closer his eye began to pick up and accentuate everything in the cockpit.

His partner was wearing a pair of grey coveralls that had been left unzipped part way at the top. His face and the skin of his throat appeared intensely white in contrast to the black of his clothes. The red highlights in his hair were glowing. As he stopped beside the open cockpit Duo's eyes lifted from his work and locked with his own. Heero felt his body reflexively lean back in surprise at the intense violet color of Duo's eyes. They appeared as if they were lit from within.

"Yo, Heero!" The Lucifer pilot's face transformed from moderate annoyance to dazzling cheerfulness.

"HEE-CHAN. HEE-CHAN!" Haro screeched as it rolled across the control panel, proceeding to knock various tools and parts off in its wake.

"01001001 00100000 01110111 01101001

01101100 01101100 00100000 01101011

01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000

01111001 01101111 01110101 00101110*** "

Heero watched as the Haro rolled off of the control panel to fall with a heavy slam to the catwalk at his feet. It continued streaming ones and zeros in a binary pattern while it circled him.

"Aw, see? Now he likes you."

"Hn." Heero glared down at the orange ball as it rubbed itself against his boot. He had a nagging feeling that the annoying orb's affections were less than sincere. He didn't care for the robot. It was annoying, pointless and a waste of resources. However… he looked back at his partner who was grinning down affectionately at the obnoxious sphere. Duo needed something to keep his mind occupied. He knew that the Lucifer pilot wasn't suited for the isolation of Lennon. He would tolerate whatever Duo needed to adapt.

That didn't mean he had to like it.

"HEE-CHAN! HEE-CHAN!" Haro was nudging his boot.

"Oh! Here, Wufei wanted me to give you these." Duo began rummaging around between the pilot seat and the armrest until he produced a thick file folder. He leaned over to hand it to him. Heero flipped through its contents and saw that it was a series of daily reports on Relena's cryostasis status. "How's your eye? Workin' good?"

Duo was observing him with a half smile from the pilot's seat, surrounded by parts and pieces of his control panel with the screwdriver still in hand. Haro continued to attack his foot.

Heero couldn't take it anymore. He looked down at the Haro, which had swiveled its ridiculous face up to observe him back. Before the ball could react he shoved it off of the catwalk with his boot.

"DUO! DUO!" It screamed as it fell onto a massive pile of cables at Gundam Lucifer's feet.

"Oi, what gives?!" Duo yelped in surprise. He had stood up in the cockpit to look over the side as the Haro fell. Heero dropped the file. It scattered across the catwalk as he grabbed Duo's shoulders and pulled him up into a kiss.

 **Part Two**

Whatever anger Duo had felt at Heero attacking his poor, defenseless Haro was immediately erased by the ridiculously hot cyborg grabbing him into a kiss. He took Heero's advance further by dropping the screwdriver before grabbing the other pilot by the front of his white t-shirt to yank him into the cockpit. He fell back hard into the pilot seat as Heero collapsed on him without breaking their fervent connection at the mouth.

The former Wing pilot slammed a hand against the control panel as he deftly settled into a reverse straddle on his lap. The cockpit began to closed around them, plunging them into a momentary darkness before the ambient lighting system burst to life. He felt Heero's hands grasping frantically at the front of his coveralls. He laughed against his mouth and leaned back to break the kiss to look at him.

"Hey! Hey wait a minute. What's gotten into you?" Duo chuckled. He lifted his hands to hesitantly cup the sides of Heero's face. The Japanese man's eyes were half lidded. Duo could make out his new right eye shining iridescent in the darkness as the iris reduced to widen his pupil.

"I missed you," Heero said in a low, flat tone. Duo grinned.

"Well yeah, I'm sure you did. I am pretty awesome..." He mocked him. His partner responded by plunging his face against his neck. Duo felt his skin tingle as the combination of Heero's cool lips and warm breath teased his flesh. He wanted to touch him but he found his hands hovering helplessly over his burn-lined shoulders. To his surprise Heero lifted his body up onto his knees and forced his hands against hm. Duo sighed and let his hands faintly slide down over his cotton clad shoulders to come in contact with his the skin on his bare arms. Heero was lifting his body up against his hands to force a firmer touch.

Duo knew that his partner was desperate for contact. Their interactions had been limited due to Heero's injuries, but now it seemed his partner didn't care whether he was in pain or not. He complied by gliding his hands over the Japanese man's forearms. He could feel his skin tightening beneath his palms as he did.

When Duo had first met the former Wing pilot he would recoil from human contact. He had once made the mistake of touching him casually on the shoulder while they were observing something and Heero's response had been violent. After that first contact Heero wouldn't let him get near him for days. Duo had suspected that what little contact Heero had received up until that point had been threatening, and that whatever training he had endured had programmed him to protect himself from all intrusive forces. Even as a teenager he could recognize that. It had initially saddened him. He had grown up feeling comfortable with touch from his friends. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen had always shown him affection, and he remembered how comforting those gentle hugs and touches had been. As his friendship with Heero grew he wanted to show him the same comfort his friends on L2 had given him. It had taken almost the entire length of their time working through Operation Meteor for Heero to get comfortable with him, and by the end they had come to rely upon one another to fulfill that need.

Heero had been more starved for touch than Duo could have ever imagined. Once the former Wing pilot's barrier against him fell and he was no longer as stonily guarded it became no holds barred. Heero was always touching him, or seeking his contact in some way. It wasn't always overt. It could be brushing hands, or sitting with his shoulder pressed against his while they worked. It got to the point that Heero would no longer sleep on his own, and when they did sleep next to each other the other pilot always had some part of his body in contact with him whether it be a hand pressed against his back, wrapped within his braid, or a leg draped casually over his.

Even when they had officially stopped having sex to pursue relationships with Hilde and Relena the casual physical contact never really ended.

Heero had stopped assaulting his neck and had fell still to rest his forehead against his shoulder. Duo continued sliding his open palms smoothly across his partner's shoulders and down his back. He could feel Heero tense and his breathing sharpen as he slipped across his burns, but he didn't ask him to stop.

It had been a rough month. Duo closed his eyes with a sigh, relaxed back against the seat and continued to give Heero the physical contact he knew that he desperately needed.

* * *

 **Footnotes** :

* Right and left visual information cross to opposite sides of the brain. This crossover occurs in the optic chiasm. **Visual information** from the retina is relayed through the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus to the primary **visual** cortex — a thin sheet of tissue (less than one-tenth of an inch thick), a bit larger than a half-dollar, which is located in the occipital lobe in the back of the **brain** .

** Wufei masters ZERO system in Frozen Teardrop. He has it installed in Nataku when he fights against Zechs in a major battle. (Quatre also uses it to manage their operations for Preventer.)

*** Translates to "I WILL KILL YOU" in binary.

(^) Heero's cybertronic eye bottom image: "Xotar Active Vision" by Franz Steiner. Please visit his profile on the CGSociety for more of his awesome work!

/AN: Sorry for the delay on this post. OMG you guys are makin' me blush... seriously. I am glad you're enjoying this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. :) If you want to see more images from this series (the eye, altered art, boys making facial expressions) check out my Archive of Our Own account. I found out how to post images, videos and music. Down the rabbit hole I go!) Hope everyone has a great weekend! :)/


	34. Chapter 34

**Part One**

Heero was seeing double. As he stared down at the top of his partner's head as the image bisected into two blurry, identical images. The left image began to flicker with every intense wave of energy that his lover triggered. He leaned heavily against the inside of Duo's cabin door and narrowed his eyes to try and adjust the image. It continued to fade in and out as his body tensed and quivered with his building climax.

He hadn't had a chance to fully disrobe. The moment they had entered his partner's cabin Duo had pinned him to the door and had wasted no time yanking his space suit down off of the lower half of his body. He still had his white t-shirt and boots on. He tried to spread his legs to widen his stance but the tangle of his spacesuit between his feet prevented him from moving. His abdomen ached as his stomach involuntarily tensed and curled against the pull of his lover's oral ministrations.

Duo's long, thick braid felt heavy in his left hand. His right hand had grasped tightly onto his partner's shoulder to steady himself. The muscles in his thighs were so tight they began to burn. He could feel Duo's warm fingers pressing firmly against his hips as he urged him deeper into his mouth.

Across the room from under Duo's bed a sharp, shrill wail seeped through his partner's closed foot locker.

"DARK! DARK! HELP! HELP!"

 **Part Two  
**

Duo paused and smiled. As the corners of his mouth turned up the hard suction he had built up against Heero's cock released. Heero's tight muscles loosened simultaneously as they were released from the pull of his mouth. Duo heard his partner give a shaken sigh and when he looked up he saw the other pilot staring down at him with that damn seductive, vulnerable secret face that Duo hadn't seen in forever.

"You're so fuckin' hot…" He wiped the spit from his mouth with the back of a hand before clambering up Heero's trembling body to stand in front of him. He pressed his hands against the door on either side of the Japanese man's head and bent his elbows to lower himself as close as he could without applying the full pressure of his body weight to Heero's injured torso. His partner's bionic eye glinted in the dim light as Heero turned his eyes up to follow his face as it grew nearer. He seemed more out of it than usual, as if he was having trouble focusing.

Heero interrupted and redirected his thoughts by kissing him. Duo smirked against his partner's hard mouth and was formulating what position he was going to fuck Heero in first when the deployment alarms began to sound throughout the ship.

"HHhhnnngggg ffuckkkkkkk," Duo growled into Heero's mouth before punching the door beside his lover's head in frustration. Heero's normally placid expression was tinted with irritation.

"Why did I agree to this shit job? Seriously?" Duo snarled as he shoved himself back from the former Wing pilot and turned around to face away from him. He felt the other pilot drop his braid. He could hear the rustle of Heero's space suit being pulled back up over his body.

"GO! GO! GO! GO!" Haro was shrieking from the box under the bed.

 ** _"CODE YELLOW. 02 LUCIFER PREPARE FOR LAUNCH."_** Wufei's voice spoke authoritatively over the ship's loudspeaker system. **_"ZERO COM POSITION PILOT 04. NO OTHER MEMBERS REQUIRED AS THIS TIME."_**

"TIME! TIME! GO! GO!" Haro was slamming itself against the inside of the box, causing it to shuffle out from under his bed. Duo willed away his dissapointed hard-on and kicked the box open with a foot. The Haro burst out and flapped angrily as it spun wildly on its axis. "MISSION! MISSION!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know…" He grumbled as he began frantically searching through his foot locker for his ferroelectric flight suit. "Shit, where is it? C'mon! Ugh!"

Something brushed his shoulder and when he looked up from his furious digging spree he saw that Heero had his flight suit and was holding it out to him with his eyes narrowed. Duo immediately recognized that face as his good 'ole "mission mode" face. Heero's jaw was clenched and his lips had pursed into a thin line. Duo couldn't help but smirk at the sight of Heero so focused.

He straightened, stripped, shucked the suit on and tripped over himself to get his boots on. Haro had been rolling madly around the perimeter of the room.

"GO! GO! GO! GO!"

"Well, duty calls!" Duo said with a crooked smile as he tossed his braid over his shoulder and tugged his gloves over his fingers. He jammed his finger webs together before giving his partner a goofy salute. "Wish me luck, ne?"

Heero nodded and grabbed him by the front of his flight suit. He kissed him brusquely before releasing him with a shove toward the door.

"See ya on the other side," Duo said with a wink before he bounced out the cabin door and into the main passageway. He ran full tilt toward the mobile suit hangar. "C'mon Haro!"

"UNDERSTOOD! UNDERSTOOD!" The happy ball screamed as it bounced and darted down the hallway after him.

 **Part Three**

Duo had left him in a state of both physical and emotional dishevelment. Heero didn't hold it against him. He would have done the same had he been called off to serve on a mission.

He frowned and walked across the dimly lit cabin to the bed and sat down as his mind recalled a handful of times he had actually done the same to his lover. It wasn't unusual for their interactions to be dictated by the call of duty and it wouldn't be the last time that they would be interrupted by a set of alarms.

He sighed and leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees. He turned his hands over to inspect his palms as he considered his options. He could go down to his Gundam in the mobile suit hangar and help Trowa and Howard finish the installation of his cockpit. He could also go see Relena and check on her status.

Heero balled his hands into fists and felt the tension building hard against his fingers. He was frustrated. He could remember everything that had happened to him in the time that Duo was watching over him. His partner had taken great care not to take advantage of him sexually while his memories were gone. He was surprised by that. He didn't consider Duo Maxwell to be a sexual predator, but he was definitely one of the more sexually aggressive people Heero had met.

Duo had never been hesitant about being intimately close to him before, so when he refuse to touch him in Lucifer's cockpit it had caught him off guard. He knew that he was trying to behave, but it had done nothing but agitate his desire and force him into a fit of frustration.

Heero exhaled through his nose and was suddenly very aware of his still conscious arousal as it pressed firmly against the gathered fabric of his space suit. He waited for a few minutes for it to dissipate but it refused to go.

He decided to take care of it before going to work on his mobile suit. He toed off his boots and carefully reclined back onto Duo's bed to stare up at the ceiling. The vertical burn lines on his back stung as his weight pressed them against the cool, white sheets.

He hadn't slept in his own room since his return to the Lennon. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he untied the sleeves around his waist to once again free himself from his space suit. His hand slipped automatically beneath the thick, neoprene-coated nylon and his fingers tucked beneath his boxer briefs. He felt the faint tickle of his own soft pubic hair against his palm as he glided his hand down over his hot, impatient erection and began casually manipulating himself. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander wherever it chose to.

The image that greeted his mind was of young Duo Maxwell lying with his back facing him on the ground. He had plunged back to a time before the Eve War near the end of Operation Meteor where he and his partner were waiting for a new assignment. They had hidden the Gundams in a canyon in Central America and had set up a makeshift tent with some canvas and tarps between their two supine parallel mobile suits. It had been two days since they had received any new orders. Their previous mission had been to stop a small OZ flotilla from traveling through the Panama Canal to transport missiles. They had finished the mission without incident and had been stuck in limbo ever since.

Heero had used the uneventful two days making minor adjustments and repairs to his suit, running control and thrust diagnostics. He had tightened every bolt and screw he could find.

It had been raining for nearly twelve hours. Despite the fact that the ground that they had occupied was raised everything beneath the tent was wet. The warm, muggy evening air had been thick with oppressive moisture. Heero had never experienced humidity like that before. He had felt sticky and uncomfortable. Duo had taken off his thick white collar and unbuttoned his black shirt before going to sleep. Heero could see the tiny, crystalline beads of sweat against the side of his partner's neck. His long plaited hair had been left defenseless in a pile on the ground beside his shoulders.

At that point they had already experimented with each other's bodies. Of all the intense sexual things that Heero could recall happening at that time this memory was hardly the most spectacular. There was going to be no insane positioning, challenging physical aspects or kinky elements at all. However this was what his thoughts had presented to him. He took a deep breath and relaxed the muscles in his arms and legs and let himself get lost in his reverie.

 _The sound of the heavy downpour mixed with the dusk songs of the local birds drowned out all other noise. He couldn't tell if Duo was asleep, but he hadn't moved in nearly an hour. Heero found himself staring at the outline of his partner's back while wishing that he would roll over so he could see his face._

 _Duo Maxwell had the most interesting eyes Heero had ever seen. They were an unusual mixture of blues and purples. When he spoke they glistened with energy. The energy wasn't always positive, and it didn't always match the expression that Duo presented for the world to see. Heero had found that aspect of his new companion fascinating. He had never met anyone so complicated and dynamic when it came to expression before. He initially found him to be brash and annoying, but the longer he was around him the more accustomed he had grown to his company._

 _The heat had been exhausting. He knew that the Deathscythe pilot had been busy that day working on his own suit. Heero felt the uncomfortable build-up of pressure congealing in the marrow of his very being. He tried to look away from the lithe, curled body in front of him but he couldn't break his stare._

 _He needed release, but he couldn't bring himself to ask the other pilot for anything. He pushed himself up to a sit and scanned the inside of the tent. The steady rushing white noise of the pouring rain beating against the tarp over his head was accentuated by the distant, angry rumble of thunder. The clouds were darkening and taking with it what little residual light was left from sun's late day retreat. He thought about going out to sit in his Gundam but the cockpit would risk being flooded by the rain. He didn't want to have to dry it out in the morning. He sighed and flopped back against the thick woolen blanket Duo had tossed on the grass earlier that evening. The other pilot still hadn't stirred. Heero turned to watch Duo's back swell and shrink with his slow, deep sleeping breaths. He frowned and cursed himself for being so weak willed._

 _He didn't need to get off. He had been trained that these kinds of self-fulfillment were a distraction. They had been right. Ever since he had allowed Duo to intrude upon him it was all Heero could think about._

 _He closed his eyes tightly to block out his thoughts and decided to just quickly get rid of his now slowly thickening erection. He plunged his hands unceremoniously into the front of his stretchy shorts and bit his lip against the inevitable groan that came with grasping the essence of his frustration. The sound caused Duo to shift in his sleep. Heero froze and stared wide-eyed at the other pilot's back as he stretched his arms out in front of him. Heero found himself becoming fixated on the sweat on the side of the other pilot's pale neck. He felt his chest tightening incrementally with each heavy thump of his anxious heart as he nudged and pulled himself closer to climax. His clumsy climb to the peak of his arousal became accelerated by the memory of a shared night not too long before when the other pilot had wrapped his smiling mouth around his erection and had helped him to reach a level of release Heero had never known himself capable of. His face ignited with heat of his embarrassment at the memory._

 _He couldn't stop thinking about how he had come to be there, lying in a tent with someone he had fought alongside off and on for months. Someone who knew more about him than he knew about himself. Someone who could manipulate him, force his body to do things he never knew it could, and even influence his actions without even being awake to see the effect._

 _He tipped over the edge-_

Heero groaned freely and forced his hips up against the palm of his hand as he neared his release. His mind's eye still echoed with the image of his partner's younger sleeping form unwittingly forcing him into a state of unrestrained passion. He had been so naive before, and it had been the Deathscythe pilot who had taught him how to let go, and how to be comfortable with his feelings and impulses. His legs and arms were throbbing with tension. He tilted his head to the side and took a deep breath. He could smell Duo's unique almond-like scent waft up from the bed sheets. His wrapped his fingers firmly around the base of his now sticky, aching erection and squeezed while pulling upward in a way his lover had done to him so many times before. As his palm slid upward he pulled forth his searing kernel of his desire with it. Every muscle in his body tensed as he came to climax. His sticky cum spurted violently into his hand and dripped down onto the open front of his space suit. He sunk back into the mattress and stared up at the ceiling as his vision shifted in and out of focus, brightened and went black.

 **Part Four**

"I thought I might find you down here," Dr. Jay said as he walked across the hangar floor toward him. Heero was seated cross-legged on a shipping crate at Snow White's feet and had been busying himself with studying the suit's statistics and weapon's test results* on a laptop. He looked up as the older man shuffled up with Professor G drinking tea from a sealed vacuum pouch behind him. "You're not too upset about not getting to go out on mission, are you?"

Heero sighed and loudly tapped on the keys to scroll through the raw data on the screen. "No. The others can handle everything fine without me."

"How's the implant working?" Professor G asked from behind Doctor J. His tone lacked genuine concern.

"It needs some work," Heero said from behind the monitor as he continued scanning the readouts. "When I orgasm it malfunctions. The lapse lasted approximately two minutes."

Dr. J laughed heartily while Professor G gagged on his tea.

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

* Or checking his social media accounts. Or creepin' on Gunpla forums. Whichever.

/AN: Heero masturbating to the memory of himself masturbating to the thought of Duo... Mah head! XD *waves at new readers* Welcome, and thank you so much for the awesome feedback! Hope everyone had a fab weekend. I've got loads of ideas coming up, I hope you will enjoy reading them as much as I love writing them for ya./


	35. Chapter 35

Twenty hours had passed since Duo had left on his mission with Wufei and Quatre. In that time Heero had helped Trowa and Howard install Snow White's cockpit, finished all of his tests and weapon's checks and recorded Relena's status in cryostasis. He had performed all of the menial tasks left by Quatre on the dry-erase board by the bridge. The list had included polishing the floors, sanitizing space suits and gloves in a sanitizing locker, transferring the waste from the compactor to the incinerator and cleaning viewport windows in the main recreation area. He had swam in the endless pool and then took a nap in the regenerative goo in the medical bay for his burns for a few hours. Now he was awake with nothing else to do. He had changed into an Ouroboros space suit after his burn soak. The analgesic properties in the sticky solution had made it easier for him to wear the heavy uniform over his shoulders. He began wandering the ship searching for something to do and found himself drawn back to the aft end of the ship to the mobile suit hangar.

He looked up at the imposing figure of Gundam Snow White as it now stood high above him surrounded by grid of catwalk and scaffolding. He knew that the suit had been constructed with both old Wing parts and new technology, but he still couldn't help but feel nostalgic when he gazed upon it.

Heero crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against a scaffolding pillar to study the opalescent white and glistening blue accents of Gundam Snow White. The suit was practically a mirror image of the machine that preceded it.

His mind began to wander to the many times he had almost left the world encapsulated within the chest of his old mobile suit. That had been back in a time when he considered his life to be cheap. He had no self-worth then, and nothing to live for. Over time he had learned to change his perspective on life. Other people began to see more in him than just what he was on the surface, which inspired him to become more introspective about what he wanted for the future. He had decided to try and live the best way he knew how and to support those who would bring the future the best possible outcome.

He had faith that Ouroboros was the answer to that calling.

Something glinted in the darkness along the catwalk beside Lucifer's empty docking bay. He tilted his head back to look up at the underside of the chest level catwalk. His improved cybernetic eye automatically adjusted the image to lighten the shadows and sharpen his focus onto the incredibly small object winking red within one of the hexagonal openings of the catwalk's platform. As if on command his eye zoomed and locked onto the object to present it to him. He recognized it immediately to be Duo's lost key.

He made his way up the catwalk and knelt down to try to pull it out from the tight hole it was wedged in. He looked down to the end of the catwalk and saw that his partner had flung his tools out of his cockpit before taking off with his mobile suit. He grabbed a screwdriver and began digging at the key when he heard movement from the floor below. He paused and dropped down to lie prone on the catwalk. He saw Dr. J and Professor G step out of a workshop just below him. The two older men were huddled together speaking in hushed tones. Heero held his breath and tried to make out their words.

"-worried it could be that?"

"I don't know… there for it… abilities could be detrimental-"

"Armonia... but what-"

As they grew closer their words were more coherent. Dr. J was worrying his stringy grey goatee with an uncharacteristic frown as he spoke. "His eye overloading wasn't something I had anticipated."

"Just tell him to stop fucking touching himself, then." Professor G snarled with irritation.

"That's not what I mean. There is a pattern here that we should be concerned about. We have two pilots with neural modifications that can be interrupted by electricity. In a world now that focuses on EMP and shock weapons in lieu of old style projectiles this could be a problem. We should look into fixing it." Jay said firmly, his claw snapping open and closed loudly as he thought.

"Make the other two pilot the damn things then," G said angrily. "Winner can handle ZERO fine, he could work well in Snow. Barton would be proficient enough in Lucifer until he trains on the new weapons." Heero exhaled and frowned.

Dr. Jay was shaking his head. "But we've come to rely on the other two's verified altered brain activity for the mobile suits to function optimally. Their teamwork through Wing-One is invaluable. I know that the Winner boy* has empathetic abilities. H had mentioned something to me about that in the past… but he refuses to be screened. I don't like to call this 'Newtype' but it seems that there is no other way to describe it."

"You're right. The news is crawling with stories about that Newtype L1 kid," G said with a huff as he shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged his shoulders. "It seems like we need to turn our eyes to that Lagrangian point. All signs are leading there."

"Armonia may be there. I never found out happened to her after she left the CLO** program." Jay said as he rubbed the side of his head with his good hand.

"Rumor was she joined up with OZ," G said as he snorted through his long pointy nose. "They should have killed her off with the others."

"Since when did you become such a dark and sinister creature?" Jay asked with a deep chuckle as he shuffled toward the door that led into the Lennon. Professor G followed obediently behind him.

"The same day the Alliance blew off those legs of yours," the mushroom-shaped troglodyte grumbled as they vanished into the main passageway of the ship.

Heero frowned, dug Duo's lock key and chain from the catwalk and slipped it around his neck before working his way back into the belly of the ship. As he passed his old room he could hear music drifting through the automated door. He had relinquished his room to Hilde after her arrival. The ship was equipped to house much more than just their small crew but Howard had insisted that they live on the same hall to make it easier to contact one another. Initially they had been assigned their own individual cabins but it seemed that over time their rooms had shifted or the living spaces combined. Wufei's room was at the farthest end, followed by Duo's, then Quatre's and then Trowa's. Heero's cabin had been the last in the row to provide him closer access to Relena's cryostation. It was Duo who had set Hilde up in his room.

He slipped into their shared cabin and stripped off his space suit, folded it in half and set it in a drawer built into the wall opposite of the bed. Heero didn't have much in the way of clothes. He was never one to collect personal items, and when he arrived on the ship he had only come with the clothes on his back. He had relied on wearing whatever Ouroboros had provided for him and currently those items were still stored away in the room Hilde now occupied. He opened a drawer that he had organized Duo's personal items in and pushed a few folded shirts around. The Lucifer pilot's selection contained articles of clothing that reflected his likes and interests. Heero had never considered the fact that he didn't really have a personal style like Duo until he was forced into the other man's clothes. He picked up the topmost of the black shirts and turned it over in his hands. It had a logo on the front that was similar to that of the President of the United States with the names "Tommy, Johnny, Joey and DeeDee" printed in a circle around an eagle holding arrows, an olive branch and a baseball bat. "RAMONES" was written in block white letters across the top. Heero sighed and slipped it over his head and smoothed it down over his chest. He studied himself in a small mirror. His right eye was still slightly swollen and the inside of his eyelids was a bright, agitated pink. The red gundanium key he had given his partner in Cinq rested on its chain in the center of his chest. He tucked it under the t-shirt. He looked tired. Upon seeing his own exhaustion reflected back at him he felt the sudden, heavy weariness from his day's work. He finished getting changed into a pair of Duo's grey shorts and white socks before dropping down to lie against his sore back on the bed. The steady, low decibel hum of the ship's generators accentuated with the rush of air from the environmental controls eventually lulled him to sleep.

He didn't know how long he had been asleep before he was awoken by his partner's stomping footsteps outside the door. Within seconds he had materialized through it. Heero knew something was wrong from the moment he heard him in the hallway. He opened his eyes and propped himself up onto his elbows just as Duo was ripping his arms frantically out of his tight black flight suit.

"What happened?" Heero asked casually. His lover's face was completely blank. The expression was the exact opposite of the blatant anger that exuded from the rest of his body. He had kicked off his boots and left them in the center of the room. Heero saw the Haro beside the door. It was silent and wobbling back and forth with its tiny eyes blinking red. "Duo?"

"I don't want to talk about it," the other pilot snarled as he began digging through the tidy drawers. Heero could see him stirring the neat piles up until he found what he was looking for. He had yanked out the odd sweater that Hilde had given him from the bottom of the drawer, a white tank top and some sweatpants and was frantically pulling them all on. Heero noticed the skin on his arms was covered in goosebumps. He pushed himself up to a sit on the edge of the bed and watched as his partner flailed around the room anxiously looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" Heero finally asked after Duo had effectively destroyed all of his orderliness.

"My FLACC player. I … I just gotta … well, whatever. I guess I can't use it anyway my earbuds are fuckin' toast. Ugh. Fuck it."

Heero saw that his hands were trembling as he snapped his laptop open and pounded on the keys. Something started to play over the speakers. His partner turned it up as loud as it would go. The cabin echoed with the sound of abrupt buzzing riffs of an electric guitar. Duo was saying something but Heero couldn't make his words out over the noise. He saw the Haro wobble again before darting across the floor to hide under the bed. Something banged against the wall behind him and he could faintly hear Wufei yelling something through it. Heero knew it probably was to tell them to turn down the music. The slam on the wall appeared to aggravate his lover even more. He turned on his heels, stormed up to the wall that separated their cabin from the Chinese man's and punched it.

 _"_ _I'm having trouble trying to sleep_  
 _I'm counting sheep but running out_  
 _As time ticks by_  
 _still I try_  
 _No rest for crosstops in my mind_  
On my own... here we go"

"FUCK OFF, FEI!" Duo bellowed as he punched the metal wall again with the same fist. When he retracted the second blow Heero could make out a smudge of blood left behind on the wall's now dented surface. He stood up quickly and grabbed his partner's arm by the elbow before he could drop a third punch against it.

Duo rarely fell into fits of rage like this. Heero had only witnessed it a handful of times. He knew that they typically followed situations where his partner had to repress his actions for an extended length of time, or he had been forced to wear his happy nonchalant mask for far too long. Something serious had happened and Duo was spiraling out of control. During times like these it was never a good idea to touch him. However, Heero wasn't going to stand by and let him hurt himself in the process of venting.

His intervention came with a struggle. Duo had reflexively yanked his elbow from his hand and shoved him. Heero absorbed the push and stood his ground.

"Get the fuck off of me!" The Lucifer pilot hissed in his face. To Heero's surprise he could see a faint violet glow radiating from around his partner's body.

 _"My eyes feel like they're gonna bleed_  
 _Dried up and bulging out my skull_  
 _My mouth is dry_  
 _My face is numb_  
 _Fucked up and spun out in my room_  
On my own... here we go"

"Stop hitting the wall." Heero commanded calmly, his voice barely audible over the deafening throb of the music.

"Heh, that's rich. This from the guy who fucking blows himself up every chance he gets. Pretty sure me tappin' on the wall isn't that fuckin' bad."

Heero was unfazed by his words. He knew he was angry, and he wasn't one to take any lash from Duo personally. He knew from experience that at this point trying to talk his partner down was simply going to fuel him more. Any statement or request for him to calm down was only going to agitate him further and cause him to sling insult back. He waited to see what his partner was going to do. Duo's shoulders were shaking, and it was clear he needed to drain whatever potential negative energy that had gathered in his body.

Heero made the decision for him and swung.

Duo's eyes widened as Heero's right fist came at his face. He ducked his punch, snarled like a rabid animal and lunged at him. Heero made no move to escape him as he tackled his waist and knocked him him over. His partner had mounted his chest and pinned him to the floor with his fist drawn back in preparation for a punch.

 _"My mind is set on overdrive_  
 _The clock is laughing in my face_  
 _A crooked spine_  
 _My senses dulled_  
 _Passed the point of delirium_  
On my own... here we go"^

"What the fuck?!" Duo shouted, his bright violet eyes smoldering with anger. Heero swung at him again with his right hand. Duo hissed and leaned back to dodge Heero's fist before dropping his own upraised fist at his face in response. Heero deflected Duo's incoming punch with his left forearm and slammed his right palm into the other pilot's chest as hard as he could while curling his body hard against Duo's pin. He had managed to dislodge him and knock him back onto the floor to reverse their roles. Duo managed to land a wild punch to Heero's left cheek as they grappled on the floor. The Lucifer pilot was howling furiously as they struggled against each other.

"Get offa me, Heero! Shit! GET OFF!"

Heero took another blow to the chest as his partner fought to keep his arms away from his grasp. He surprised him by slamming his knee into the center of his back to knock him forward. Heero winced as the blow tore into the healing burns and he released his attempted pin of his partner's forearms. Duo's hands snapped up to grab him around the throat. Heero froze and stared down at him as his lover began to squeeze.

"Why… why does it always gotta be this way, huh? Nothing's gonna change. So many people..." Duo's voice sounded shaken and distant. His eyes were filling with tears. "Wufei said I couldn't handle it. Maybe he's fuckin' right. I can't do this. I can't..."

Heero didn't move. He felt Duo's fingers around his throat begin to gradually slacken. The other pilot's arms were shaking. He waited until his partner's trembling fingers finally loosened enough for him to move. He leaned forward and pressed his forearms against the floor to form a shield around Duo's face and carefully rested his forehead against his. He could hear him choking on the sob he refused to set free.

* * *

Footnotes:

*Quatre is a grown ass man but he'll never escape being a little boy to the old guys.

** Colony Liberation Organization

^ "Brain Stew" by Green Day

(To go with previous chapter's fap theme, mayhaps?)

/AN: "'They're _violent_ and dangerous, but they're really nice _guys_." - _Quatre_ Raberba _Winner/_


	36. Chapter 36

Duo was clearly exhausted, and after his violent emotional outburst he simply lie motionless on the floor after Heero had covered him with his own body. He had not openly cried. Instead he had initiated dispassionate sexual contact with him. Heero knew that he needed the distraction and redirection so he had given in to his silent request. When he had looked up from taking him orally to climax Duo appeared to have instantly fallen asleep.

Heero sighed, wiped his mouth on his arm and swallowed hard before adjusting Duo's clothes for him. He then carefully pulled him up into his arms and slipped him into the bed. The other pilot rolled automatically onto his side and curled his knees tightly against his chest.

He reached into the collar of the Ramones t-shirt he had borrowed and retrieved the small, cold key from against his chest. He unclasped it and gently slid it around his neck and clasped it. He slipped into the bed behind him and snaked his arm through the shallow curve beneath his partner's neck. He wrapped his other arm firmly around his waist and pulled him against his body to spoon him. He ignored the ache it summoned from his injured skin as he did.

He frowned and buried his face into the side of Duo's neck and inhaled deeply. His lover was warm and his body heat had diffused through the back of his sweater and into Heero's chest. Duo was always hot, and he often found himself relishing that radiant heat. Years of specialized training had left Heero's body optimized to run cooler. He had never realized how cold his body was until he had become familiar with Duo's heat. He could only assume that the heat came from living on L2 where the climate control systems always seemed to be failing, or maybe it was his partner's high basal metabolic rate. Heero could function fine on only 700-800 calories a day. Duo seemed to need nearly three times that amount at any given time.

He wanted to know what had happened to him. He took another parting breath of Duo's warmth and scent before slipping his arm out from under his neck. He slowly untangled his limbs from him. Once both of his feet had landed on the cold metal floor the Haro slipped out from hiding and looked up at him with its close-set black eyes. Heero reached down to pick it up. He tucked it against his hip, grabbed Duo's laptop and an interfacing cable from a drawer and slipped out of the room. He dropped to a sit against the outside of the door and propped the laptop on top of his thighs.

He knew that the Haro unit had the ability to directly connect with the Gundam's communications and visual controls. He hadn't seen the system in action yet, but Duo had mentioned that Howard had installed a dock for the Haro to rest in. The Haro swiveled on the ground beside him but to his surprise it remained silent. He plugged the cable into the laptop and then held the opposite end out to the little orange robot.

"Show me what happened," he said. The Haro flapped its ears once before opening the right flap wide. A snake-like arm whipped out and a small, jointed hand snatched the end of the interfacing cable from his fingertips. It retracted its arm and appeared to be fumbling around within itself. Finally it settled and stopped moving.

"SHOW HEE-CHAN. SHOW HEE-CHAN." It chirped with a lack of its usual obnoxious enthusiasm. The laptop monitor illuminated with the recorded feed from Gundam Lucifer's main external optical camera at the beginning of what Heero assumed the initial descent through the atmosphere. The image was blurred and vibrating as the suit was pummeled with the heat of entry. He could see the edges of Lucifer's massive black demon wings as they framed the image. Eventually the feed came into focus and the familiar cloud-swept blue, green and brown of Earth came into view and began to grow as the suit fell. He was en route to Europe. The focus on was the Mediterranean Sea. Soon it became clear that the target location was the island of Ibiza, Spain. The local time was dusk. Heero saw the suit's plunging speed begin to decrease as the Gundam neared the mission coordinates. The image flickered for a moment, which Heero knew indicated that Duo's hyper-jammer and cloak generators were fully activated. As the suit came closer to the surface Heero saw no sign of conflict. There were no incoming mobile suits, weapons, or smoking buildings. Just as he began to wonder whether it was a ground mission or not the suit stopped over a beach. It stretched wide to a cluster of opulent white mansions. He could make out dark masses scattered on the sand in the shadowy twilight. He blinked and glanced over at Haro, which gave him a half-flap and swiveled.

The masses were bodies. The entire stretch of beach was lined with hundreds of bodies lying in various states of gore. Some appeared to be dismembered. Others were lying prone in the sand with stab wounds dug into their backs. Vast flocks of seabirds had begun feasting from the buffet of bodies. The burgundy of old blood had begun to churn and mix with the foaming waves leaving sticky pink froth in their wake. At the center of the carnage was a tall stage with blinking performance lights and an empty DJ booth. There appeared to be no sign of aggressors, enemy forces, or terrorists.

Heero closed out the feed and found himself staring at the blank screen. His mind kept returning to the massacre at Maxwell Church. The last time Duo had lost control was when he had witnessed people perish in a fire at a church in Africa. He wondered if just the sight of mass murder was enough to trigger him into a frenzied emotional state. This time he hadn't attacked anyone, but was that only because he didn't have any enemy to focus on or had he tried his best not to show his weakness in front of Wufei and Quatre?

Heero let his fingers slide across the keys of the laptop and summoned the mission details. Ouroboros had received a call from one of Quatre's informants in Spain that there had been chatter on the local law enforcement radio scanners about a large-scale attack on Ibiza. Other than coordinates there was no other information.

He wanted a clearer picture of what had happened with his partner, but neither Quatre nor Wufei had posted their mission reports yet. He decided to look through some of the raw data from Duo's mobile suit to see if he could get any more clues. He pulled up the suit's data storage through the Lennon's local area network and began browsing through the information there. It showed that his partner had entered the atmosphere and then shortly after the time that corresponded with the arrival in Ibiza there was a log that indicated a sudden disconnect with Wing-One. It appeared intentional. After that point only audio COM relays were being broadcast from Lucifer. Heero sighed and leaned back against the door. The Haro was staring up at him quietly.

 _Duo manually disconnected to keep Wufei from hearing him panic_ , he realized. He closed the laptop and let his hand rest on top of it. _He heard what Wufei had said about his piloting ability. He didn't want them to think poorly of him._

The epiphany was disturbing to Heero. It bothered him that Duo felt like he couldn't share his feelings with his comrades. Quatre would have been the last person to ever judge Duo on a reaction, especially to something as horrific as the scene on the beach. Wufei was another matter. The Chinese pilot had been a good friend to Duo in the past, but he was all business when it came to work. He had told Heero in confidence that he felt Duo wasn't suited to be Snow White's pilot. Heero hadn't agreed, but Wufei was being very logical with his argument. Heero knew that the former Shenlong pilot would have never said anything that forceful in front of Duo, but he had assumed that they were alone when he confided his opinion to him. It was clear that Duo had taken it to heart, and had restrained himself even to the point of disconnecting with his support team.

It all made sense. Heero looked back down at the Haro. It raised its earflaps up as he did.

"I need you to keep an eye on him. I have something I need to do."

"AFFIRMATIVE. AFFIRMATIVE." The ball exclaimed. It bounced for emphasis. Heero nodded and stood up to clear the doorway. He opened it to allow the Haro to enter before reaching in to dim the cabin lights. Duo's sleeping form was still curled on its side on the bed. Heero propped the laptop against the wall inside the door and then let it slide closed before making his way down the hall to his old room. He had no idea what the local UTC* time was but he could hear music still playing faintly through the door. He applied three hard knocks and waited for almost an entire minute before the door slid open. Hilde was standing on the opposite side in bright yellow pajama pants with blue polka-dots and an oversized pink hooded sweatshirt with a sprinkle donut printed on the front. Her hair was slightly disheveled and her eyes appeared bleary as if he had woken her. Rhythmic piano trills accompanied by upbeat, relaxing bass was drifting from her room. The lights behind her were dim.

"Heero? Oh… what's wrong? Is everything okay?" She yawned widely and rubbed one of her eyes with a fist. Heero frowned. He felt foolish for having woken her, especially since what he needed to talk about could have waited until morning. He was about to tell her as much but she had managed to wipe the sleep from her eyes and was eyeing him closely.

"Something's wrong. What happened. Come in, tell me." She had snatched him by the arm and was pulling him through the door. He let her drag him into the room. Milo was curled up on the foot of the bed. The blankets were askew, indicating that she had just been lying down for the night. The cat picked its head up as he entered the room and narrowed its green eyes at him. Heero stared back.

"Milo! Be nice to Heero, he saved us, remember?" Hilde said with a grin as she swatted playfully at the fluffy tabby's butt. The cat gave a slow blink, yawned and put his head back down. It continued to watch him suspiciously. "Sit down. What's up? This is about Duo isn't it?"

Heero raised an eyebrow at her deduction and made no move to sit with her on her bed. He slipped his hands into the pockets of his basketball shorts and nodded his head slowly.

"What happened?" Hilde asked casually. Heero opened his mouth to speak but found himself distracted by the music playing from her laptop on the tabletop nearby. He glanced over at it. She had followed his gaze. "Oh, sorry. It helps me to relax," she said hurriedly as she stood up to rush over to the computer. She tapped on a button to silence it.

He couldn't help himself. "What was that?"

"Huh?" She was staring at him wide-eyed.

"That music. What was it?" He was genuinely curious. He had never heard anything like it before. It was completely different from the aggressive, in-your-face rock music his partner frequently serenaded him with and it had managed to tickle his ear.

"Oh, uh... a mixture of things. Jazz, lo-fi hip-hop, beats on loop, chill and vibe, that kind of thing. Why? You liked it?"

Heero shrugged a shoulder. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not.

"I can make you a playlist!" Hilde offered excitedly. "Wow, Heero Yuy likes _my_ music!" She began punching around on the keys.

"About Duo…" Heero tried to recover their derailed conversation. Hilde was busily clicking away on her laptop.

"Yeah, so what happened?" She punched the enter key proudly. "Okay, done! I sent the files over to Duo. You can listen to them later, okay?"

"... okay."

"So what's wrong with our resident tough guy, huh?" Hilde asked with a brilliant smile. Heero shifted his weight and crossed his arms over his chest. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Hilde gasping loudly.

"Oh Jesus, what happened to your face?" She said as she gestured to what he assumed was a bruise the other pilot had left on his jaw. He sighed through his nose and narrowed his eyes.

"Duo," he explained flatly. "He had … a bad day today. He was emotionally compromised. I provoked him to make him redirect his anger at me, as opposed to taking it out by punching the wall. I need your help."

Hilde had grabbed the wall and was bracing herself against it. "You're kidding me. Duo hit you…?"

"Like I told you, I provoked him. He needed to vent. It isn't a problem." Heero said placidly.

"Heero… you really shouldn't do things like that. I mean, you don't deserve to get beaten on just because he was having a bad day. And if you did provoke him intentionally, how is that going to solve anything? He's going to just wake up and feel like shit for hitting you." Hilde chastised him. Heero grit his teeth and tightened his arms across his chest. He hadn't expected to be lectured on how to take care of his boyfriend. He knew that Hilde knew Duo better than anyone. That was why he came to her in the first place, but he really didn't see the point of her lecturing him.

"I had no other choice at the time. I suppose in retrospect it seems ridiculous, but I had no other option. I couldn't allow him to continue to inflict harm upon himself. It has already been done. There is no point in dwelling on it. I need to talk to you about something else." Heero said in a low, flat voice. Hilde was nodding her head.

"Okay, yeah. Sorry. Lay it on me."

"I feel like Duo is having trouble adjusting to life with Ouroboros and the ship. I thought that keeping him busy with missions and having the Haro around would keep him occupied, but I don't think it is enough. He is having difficulty managing his emotions. He is trying to hide them from the other pilots. The mission today unsettled him, and he repressed everything. That was why he came back the way he did. I need you to help me come up with a system for him to release his energy. When I connect to him through Wing-One I feel his internal chaos. He is at his best when he can release those pent up thoughts through physical exertion. There is only so much exercise he can do. He needs…" Heero shook his head, at a loss for words. Hilde hopped up and down.

"Heero! I've got it! He needs a hobby! I used to tell him that all the time. All he did was work, or organize the storeroom or go help other people fix things. He didn't have an outlet. Think about it? Everyone else here has something they do for recreation. Wufei has his plants, strategy games and books. Trowa has his umbrellas, his circus performances, flute and Quatre. Quatre has his work, his tea collection, his sisters, painting, music and Trowa. You've got … well… " She was peering at him with a speculative look. "Well, anyway. You're right about him. His brain is all over the place, he needs a way to focus and let loose. Maybe dancing? He told me about you guys dancing at The Circus…" She was grinning so hard the Cheshire Cat would have blushed.

Heero ignored her. "Maybe. I was thinking something more interactive with music. All of his interests seem to focus on it."

Hilde nodded and gestured to his t-shirt. "You mean like his bands and stuff? He's always playing air guitar. Oh! How about we get him an instrument? Guitar would be cool! Except he would have to actually learn how to play it. He's pretty smart, he could figure it out."

"Hn." Heero considered it. He wondered if Duo would be disciplined enough to learn how to read music, let alone how to play an instrument.

"He's always banging his hands and fingers on things. Why not the drums?" She was thinking aloud. Heero blinked and looked at her just as her mind caught the brilliance of her statement. She beamed at him. "That's it! He would love that! That would be music and he could wear himself out on it. He's got a pretty natural rhythm, and he catches on to the music really quick. Drums would be perfect! Oh, Heero, you've got to do this for him!"

Heero nodded and dropped his hands to his sides. "I will."

"If you get something tell Howard. He was arranging for a supply shipment earlier today. You can just have it freighted here with that, right?" She suggested. He sighed and nodded before making his way to the door. "Oh, and Heero?" He paused to look over his shoulder at her. She had picked up the cat and was squishing him tightly against her chest. The cat was kicking at her arms with his back claws in an attempt to escape. She appeared to be blushing. "Duo's my best friend, and I can't think of anyone who is more perfect for him than you. Thank you for taking care of him. He really needs you."

Heero nodded and slipped out of her room. He felt some satisfaction at her praise and immediately decided that Duo was lucky to have a good friend in Hilde. He crept silently into their cabin and saw that Haro had taken residence on the foot of the bed in a similar position the cat had taken on Hilde's. Heero reached down to grab Duo's laptop. He set it on the table, opened it and did a quick internet search for drum sets. After fifteen minutes he had found a highly rated, intermediate level complete Pearl EXL drum set. He chose the smoke black color scheme and had it shipped to Howard's contact in the Pacific near the spaceport where their private freighter connection would be shipping from. He sent a short correspondence to Howard about what he had done. As he was about to close the laptop he saw the message icon blinking in the bottom corner of the task bar. He opened it. The playlist that Hilde had made for him appeared on the screen and began to automatically play. He glanced over at Duo to make sure the noise hadn't disturbed him. He appeared not to notice.

Heero sighed and closed his eyes. He listened as the multifaceted layers of a smooth, almost soothing jazz song two-stepped into his ears. He closed his eyes and felt his mind become both intensely focused and yet somehow lost with the music. After a few minutes he turned the music down until it was barely audible, crossed the room and slipped under the blanket and into the bed behind his partner. He resumed his big spoon hug against Duo's back and softly nuzzled the nape of his neck. His lover stirred in his arms and leaned back into him. Heero closed his eyes and sighed. He hoped that the plan he had developed with Hilde was going to work. If it didn't, he was going to have to consider a more drastic change. They were going to have to abandon Ouroboros.

He squeezed his partner firmly against his chest despite the soreness of his burns. The pain seared across his mind and served only to solidify his decision. He wanted to work with Ouroboros. He wanted to help be the guiding hand that would bring peace to the future, but none of that was worth sacrificing Duo's happiness.

* * *

Footnotes:

*UTC : Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is equivalent to **GMT.**


	37. Chapter 37

Duo woke up in the bed alone to the sound of jazz piano wafting through the air behind him. It definitely wasn't his music. He cracked open an aching eye and forced his body to roll over and flop onto its back. He stretched his arms as far as they would go over his head and heard the faint snap, crackle and pop of his weary joints. He let his arms rest on the mattress over his head and yawned. He felt something tug at the skin atop his right hand. He raised it to the level of his face and saw that one of his red, white and blue Captain America Band-Aids had been applied to his yellow-green bruised knuckles.

His mind stung with the memory of what had happened the day before. As his unsettled thoughts began to clarify the image of the beach in Ibiza began to consume his thoughts. The unforgettable image of bodies lying in piles along the white, sandy beach being pecked apart by seagulls made his stomach churn and his heart tripped over itself with palpitations.

Duo had grown up around lifeless bodies. It wasn't unusual to find the dead around L2. He had lost count of how many deceased junkies he had tripped over in the dark when he lived in the Underground. His mind began to present still, warped images of the faces of the people he had lost. Solo, Father Maxwell, and Sister Helen weren't the only ones. There were thirty-four orphans who had been brutalized the day he had run off. He had left them all alone. If he had not left, he could have done something. He could have warned them. He could have helped them to escape.

 _Luke, Anthony, Mary, Ellen, Christina, Jackson, Benjamin, Joshua, Caroline..._

He pressed his palms to his face and sucked in a deep, steadying breath.

 _Lauren, Amanda, Rachel, Matthew, Taylor, Sebastian, James…_

"Helena, Josephine, Caleb, Victor, Alexander, Tobias, Frederick, Raoul, Gregory, Justin, Terry, Paul, Stephen, Harold, Morgan, Niecy, Sen, Rose…" he whispered the names into the air. "I won't forget you. I will never forget you."

He shook his head and tried to think of something else. His mind presented him with the memory of Heero taking a swing at him.

 _He let me beat on him,_ Duo thought morosely. _He could have stopped me at any time, and he didn't._

Heero was a brutal fighter. Duo knew for a fact the guy could take a hit. Back during the Eve War Heero hadn't flinched when Duo had decked him in the face at his request. He had seen his partner get up and walk away from attacks that would have incapacitated the average person. He had also witnessed him perform amazing hand to hand maneuvers that he had yet to see anyone else do. He had no doubt that if Heero truly intended on knocking him a good one he wouldn't have missed.

Duo grit his teeth. He dropped his hands from his face to rest against the pillow on either side of his head. He clenched his hands reflexively into fists. His marked knuckles cried out with pain as he did so. He felt like shit. He knew why his lover had done what he had, and part of him was grateful. The other half was embarrassed and felt guilty as hell.

 _Once again, I owe Heero for something he's done for me._ He thought gloomily. _Shit. Just for once I wish we could just be even. I'm tired of feeling like he has to take care of me. Why do I gotta be so pathetic all the time? Why can't I shake this shit?_

"Mannnn…" He groaned aloud and kicked his legs against the mattress, annoyed. As he did he heard a loud thunk as something fell to the floor.

"OW! OW!"

"Eh?" He sat up and quickly looked over the foot of the bed and saw Haro flapping its earflaps wildly at him from the floor.

"HURT! HURT! HARO! HARO!"

"Shit, sorry buddy." He apologized. His frown deepened. The jazz piano playing quietly from his open laptop had shifted to a chill, lo-fi^ electronica song. Duo raised an eyebrow at the selection and carefully pushed himself up to a stand. He stretched his arms out in front of him, rolled his stiff shoulders and hopped his bare feet across the cold floor to check the laptop monitor. His nose scrunched as he saw that "Black Alpha's Outer Space Chill" was streaming on the screen.

"Heero's finally starting to like his own thing, huh?" Duo said under his breath as he stopped the music from playing. "Heh. Too bad it sucks." He switched Heero's playlist with his own and turned the volume up to full blast. Immediately the low and alluring suspended string bass notes mingled with a melodic electric guitar. The sound entered the room and wrapped around his head. It sank into his grey matter and eventually forced his previous turbulent thoughts beneath the surface.

 _"Keep you in the dark_  
 _You know they all pretend_  
 _Keep you in the dark  
_ And so it all began."

The beat abruptly accelerated with the slap and pop of snare drum. As the song settled into its full swing he began to dig through his surprisingly tidy drawers for a change of clothes. Haro had rolled over to nudge his foot. He paused to snatch the orange ball up from the floor and set it beside the blaring laptop.

 _"Spinning infinity, boy_  
 _The wheel is spinning me_  
 _It's never-ending, never-ending_ _  
_Same old story."*

He pulled out the topmost of his personal clothing. He couldn't bring himself to wear a uniform space suit. His body needed a break, and though it was impractical to walk around the ship with thin civilian Earth-style clothing he couldn't find it in himself to give a single fuck. He tucked the items under his arm and padded toward the door. The Haro wobbled and rolled across the tabletop as if to follow him.

"Nah, you wait here. I'll be right back," he said with a dismissive wave. He wanted to be alone, even from his robotic companion. He slung on his black rubber sandals and made his way down the hall to the communal showers.

The individual cabins each had a sink and narrow personal water closet but had no full shower systems due to the ship's requirement for moisture management. The showers were located in a tightly sealed chamber. Rampant moisture fed nuisance bacteria** that plagued all spacebound craft, so communal shower chambers were commonplace. Duo had never seen a personal shower in a ship's cabin until he had visited with Howard in the Pacific ocean. He had been teased mercilessly for days by the Sweeper crew for being excited about having a shower in his room.

He slipped into the empty shower chamber and took the first stall to the left. He set his clean clothes down on a shelf outside of the stall, carefully removed Hilde's sweater and folded it over the top of the divider wall. The room was covered from floor to ceiling with wide, flat white tiles. There were six individual stalls situated in groups of three. Each stall contained dual showerheads and was shielded by a plain opaque blue fabric curtain. Intricate filtration and venting systems were built into the ceiling. Duo couldn't recall a time when the room ever got steamy.

He yanked off the rest of his clothes, tossed them in a pile on the floor and kicked them outside the stall before starting the water. He turned it to the hottest setting possible and reached behind his back to rip his elastic black hair tie free from the end of his braid. He wrapped the elastic around his wrist before grabbing his thick rope of hair and pulling it over his shoulder. As the scalding water saturated it it became five times heavier. He slipped his index finger into the heart of one of the cross-crossed sections and pulled it down. The length of the plait beneath his finger gradually unraveled from his downward swipe. He then dug his fingers into the remainder of his hair and shook it out from root to tip.

His hair was long when braided. During the Eve War his hair had been well past his ass but now it was threatening the backs of his knees. Unbraided it was a couple of inches longer. With it completely undone he could feel the longest tresses tickle the backs of his knees. He turned around and let the water completely soak through it.

The follicles on his scalp ached from the release of position. Anytime he let his hair loose he would feel a strange, uncomfortable sensation on his head as the hair fought to return to its usual angle. He rubbed at the irritation with his fingertips to try and relieve the discomfort there.

His hair was drenched and sticking to his body. He picked it off of himself, gathered its mass and rested it against his shoulder. He gathered a copious amount of the ship's piquant herbal scented shampoo in both hands and lathered his hair with practiced ease before rinsing and conditioning it. The process took a significant amount of time. Just as he finished he heard the distinctive hiss of someone entering the sealed shower chamber doorway. He peeled through the curtain just in time to see Wufei's tattooed back disappear into the stall directly across from his.

He frowned and stepped back to stand once again beneath the high-pressure blast of searing water. He felt a mixture of conflicting emotions bubbling to the surface.

Wufei was his friend. He had helped him through difficult times after he had left Preventer. He helped him to get a job at the University on X-18999. He had been a constant, reliable companion then. Things had changed a lot since they joined Ouroboros.

 _No… even before that. Things changed after Heero showed up again._ Duo realized with a frown. He had stopped spending as much time with Wufei after that. What had used to be a series of casual lunches, movie outings and platonic companionship had slowly deteriorated into nothing more than passing comments and work-related conversation. Duo wondered of Wufei was pissed at him for that. He knew that he felt isolated living on Lennon, but how did the Chinese man feel? Wufei had always been a loner, but even loners need occasional companionship.

He felt the burn of his guilt begin to combine with the sear of his shower. He finished washing quickly and shut off the water. After towel drying his hair he twisted in into a loose rope and let it rest against his left shoulder. He tossed a towel around his waist and shuffled out into the center of the chamber.

"Hey, yo. Fei?" He called hesitantly over the rushing drone of the water. There was a pause before he received a reply.

"Maxwell?"

"Hey, um. You got a minute to talk?"

"... I'm showering."

"Well, yeah. I know. Nevermind, maybe later huh?" Duo backpedaled. Wufei's dripping face shot out from behind the curtain.

"What is it?" Wufei asked, his voice hinted that he was annoyed but his face expressed surprising patience.

"I… I'm sorry about last night." Duo blurted. He noticed that Wufei was looking him over with an analytical expression. His dark eyes had stopped to study the bruises on his hand.

"What you and Yuy do with yourselves after hours is your own business. I'd like for you to keep it that way and be considerate of your neighbors." Wufei said coolly as his eyes returned to his face to gaze at him curiously.

"Yeah, uh… I'm sorry." Duo felt like a broken record. He didn't know what else to say. He fumbled with his thoughts for a second before spitting them out hurriedly. "I'm sorry about a lot of stuff. Like how I performed yesterday on mission. The feed didn't cut out because of Haro. Like… he didn't interrupt my immersion connection with you guys. I broke it off. Because…"

"You think I don't know that?" Wufei snapped at him, though not unkindly. "It was obvious you were upset, Duo. Anyone would be after seeing something like that. It disappointed me that you felt like you needed to hide it from Winner and me. You don't instill any confidence in me by denying my trust in you."

Duo gawked. He mouthed the air mutely.

"Also, I don't much care to know the details about what happened between you and Yuy last night, but from what I can see from the evidence that is the state of his face and the status of your hand you two got into a row. If you are having anger issues, Duo, you really need to work them out in a different way. Hitting your significant other is unacceptable." The Chinese man said coldly.

"Eh? Wait! Wait a minute, I'm not some abusive boyfriend or anything! He swung at me first!" He exclaimed, his voice echoing throughout the shower chamber. "Shit, since when did I become the bad guy?^^"

The corner of Wufei's mouth had perked with amusement. "You boast about being a Shinigami, Maxwell. You're clearly the bad guy."

"What?!"

Wufei laughed and pulled his head back through the curtain and vanished from view. "I suggest you go and find Yuy and work it out with him. I would like to get some sleep later rather than hear you two bickering all night. The last time I saw him he was working on his mobile suit."

Duo rubbed the back of his neck and felt something thin and hard roll beneath his palm against his nape. He blinked and looked down to see something red shining against his chest.

"How… how the hell?" His formerly lost red gundanium key was pressed against the center of his chest. He snatched it up for inspection and rolled it between his forefinger and thumb thoughtfully. "Holy shit. How did I not fucking notice this?^*" He couldn't believe it. Someone had found his key and put it on him. The evidence clearly pointed to Heero.

What sad and depressing thoughts that had consumed him upon waking disintegrated with his delight at his new discovery. He trembled with excitement. Before he could stop himself he had left the shower chamber and had kicked his sandals off as he ran full-tilt down the fuselage of the ship toward the aft hangar. As he did he nearly plowed into Quatre and Trowa who were walking side by side down the center of the passageway. Trowa's arms were stacked high with folded white sheets, and Quatre^** had been looking down at a tablet in his hand. They parted as he rushed through them.

"Duo? Everything okay?" Quatre called after him as he bolted past them.

"Great! Everything's fucking awesome!" Duo yelled enthusiastically over his shoulder as he vanished from their view. He made it to the hangar, tumbled through the door and began weaving through the frigid catwalks toward Snow White. The Gundam was activated and running. Its low, heavy hum filled the hangar and grew more intense as he ran toward it. He could see Dr. J and Professor G in full Ouroboros space suits with their helmets on. They were standing on the chest-level catwalk as it began to recede away from the Gundam's cockpit. The spinning warning lights beside the massive launch doors were flashing red.

"WAIT! Heero! YO, WAIT UP!" He yelled as he ran barefoot across the catwalks. Snow White's aquamarine eyes flashed as he ran by the two scientists to the end of the catwalk. He grabbed the joystick that controlled the position of the catwalk and forced it back toward the closed cockpit.

"Duo! What the hell?! Are you crazy?!" Professor G was screaming, his voice muffled by his closed helmet. As the catwalk returned to its default position against the Gundams chest the cockpit began to hiss open to reveal Heero in full Ouroboros flight suit. He had taken his helmet off and was watching him with his eyebrows raised. His mismatched eyes were wide with concern. Once the cockpit had opened completely he clambered up into it and threw himself onto his partner. He felt Heero's gloved hands grab his bare hips as he tossed himself down to straddle his lap. His partner continued to stare at him, clearly stunned.

"Duo… what's wrong? Where are your clothes?" His friend asked calmly despite the chaos of the situation.

Duo was suddenly very aware of the freezing temperatures in the hangar. His skin puckered and his entire body fell into a fit of shivers. He also came to the realization that at some point in his mad dash he had lost his towel. The cockpit slid closed. He saw Heero reach out to manipulate the internal climate controls and turn the heater on to full for him before gently plucking locks of his damp hair free from being tangled around his right handle-shaped suit controls. Duo's body shuddered against the coarse nylon of Heero's flight suit. He was shivering so hard he couldn't speak. He doubled over and buried his face against Heero's chest. The darkened cockpit was illuminated only by the faint glow of the ZERO system orb behind him as it waited for activation.

"I… ughh…. Key…." He managed to squeak out despite the uncontrollable cold-induced seizures. Heero had gathered his wet hair with one hand and was holding it away from his body. His other arm had wrapped around his back to hold him tightly against his chest. Duo rested his forehead against his shoulder. His teeth were chattering uncontrollably and his fingers and toes were burning.

"Hn… baka." Heero murmured affectionately.

* * *

Footnotes:

* "The Pretender" - Foo Fighters, "Grohl described "The Pretender" as "a stomping Foo Fighters uptempo song, with a little bit of Chuck Berry in it." The song is written in the key of A minor and showcases the shifting dynamics which Grohl wanted to employ on _Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace_, starting with a very stripped-down introduction, featuring Grohl on guitar and vocals along with a small string section. Then comes an escalating hard rock sound, interrupted by breakdowns and escalations in the bridge, including a repeat of the intro." - Wiki

^ "Lo-Fi" or "Low Fidelity" is a type of sound recording which contains technical flaws that make the recording sound different compared with the live sound being recorded, such as distortion, hum, background noise, or limited frequency response. - Wiki (Sounds similar to reel-to-reel and vintage recordings.)

** ISS currently has a problem with microorganisms, bacteria and fungi growing on its walls. "Bacteria are leading the way in adapting to living in space. Scientists looked at how bacteria cope and adapt to different conditions of space flight such as weightlessness, cosmic radiation, space electromagnetism, and space vibrations" Link to pending NASA study on the topic: .gov/mission_

^^ Since you shot poor Yuy twice at the naval base, ya bully.

^* He was too busy worshipping his hair to have noticed.

^** Quatre's your typical slave-driving guy from upper management.


	38. Chapter 38

**Part One**

Duo wasn't going to be satisfied until every exposed bit of Heero's flesh had received a thankful kiss. He had finished the task by dropping a soft, particularly apologetic kiss to the oblong bruise on his lover's jaw. Heero's robotic eye was open and locked onto his face. He could see the tiny panels that lined Heero's aqua iris shift as his pupil expanded. The entire eye itself seemed to glow in the dark as it caught the ambient light from the ZERO system controls.

"Duo. I need to complete this reconnaissance mission." Heero explained plainly though he made no move to push him away.

"Eh? Recon? Seriously? You're taking this sparkling feathery Vegas showgirl out on recon? What the fuck? That's my thing! Why didn't you guys call me?" Duo had pulled away to stare into his face at arm's length. Heero sighed.

"We hailed you multiple times. You didn't answer," he explained slowly.

"I was in the shower!"

"Evidently." Heero replied. His gloved hands slid up his back to rest against his bare shoulder blades.

"I'm going." Duo insisted.

"No. I can handle this. You need to write and submit your mission report for yesterday." Heero said firmly. His two-toned eyes had narrowed on his face.

"What? But I can do that later!"

"You're naked." Heero reminded him with a flat expression.

"I can get a flight suit!" Duo attempted to reason with him.

"Get out." Apparently Heero couldn't see reason.

"Come onnnnnnnnn!" He whined and gave his best, most effective puppy dog eyes.

"No." Heero replied tersely, unaffected.

"Damn you," Duo snarled playfully. He reached over to activate the cockpit door but his hand was abruptly intercepted by Heero's. His partner had grabbed his wrist to stop him and was using that grasp to pull his body closer. Before he could question him Heero had buried his face against his neck and began suckling on his chilled skin. Duo was shocked to find that for once his lover's mouth was burning hot.

Heero Yuy was more than familiar with Duo's most reactive erogenous zones. His mouth had landed precisely on his densest cluster of nerve endings. Duo could feel those sensitive endings electrify as they received a slow, sensual lick from his companion. He automatically gasped in response, which prompted the other pilot to drop both of his gloved hands down to grab his ass.

"Huh? W… wait a minute," Duo groaned breathlessly as he was assaulted. He could feel every muscle in his body beginning to tense and fill with a numb, vaguely aroused warmth. "What're ya doing? Didn't you say get out?"

Heero had dragged his hot tongue from the base of his neck at an excruciatingly slow pace to his ear before lavishing his earlobe with a suck and a bite. Duo could feel and hear his warm, steady breathing. "I did. Your body's warm now, right?" The Snow White pilot's voice was barely audible over the droning hum of his idling mobile suit.

"Huh?" Duo blinked and pulled back to stare at him, confused. Heero smirked and released one of his ass cheeks to slam his fist on the button that activated the cockpit door. As it opened the warmth began to dissipate as it was cut asunder by the frigid hangar air.

"Damn it!" Duo yelped as the icy breeze buffeted his body.

He heard the other pilot chuckle behind him as he scampered reluctantly out of the cockpit to stand on the catwalk. The burning cold bit at his feet, but he didn't run. Instead he spun around and watched as Heero closed the cockpit again. Once his lover had vanished from view he tossed his ridiculously long, damp hair over his shoulder and spun around to make his way across the catwalk in nothing but his birthday suit.

"Gentlemen," he addressed the pair of onlookers casually as he strut as confidently as he could past them to the main body of the Lennon. He could hear Dr. J's maniacal cackle permeate through his helmet.

 **Part Two**

"This coroner report indicates that every deceased person had the same chemical compounds in their brain stems," Quatre was reading from a file on the table. Trowa was seated solemnly beside him with his arms crossed over his chest. Duo saw Wufei shift uncomfortably beside him, clearly as disturbed by the new information as he was.

"So what was that shit, then? Meth? Ecstasy?" He asked.

"It appears to be a new synthetic compound," Quatre replied softly. "Duo, I don't have any proof to back up my hypothesis, but I suspect that the drug they had given you on L2 was the culprit here as well."

He gawked and shook his head. "What? Eyeshine? That shit doesn't kill you. It just fucks with your head, makes you see this skull-face that tells you what to do. I thought the ESUN was receiving the shipments from the Underground, right? What was it doing at a beach party in Ibiza? And why the hell did everyone die? Those wounds didn't look like overdose to me."

Trowa looked up from his inspection of the bare tabletop in front of him. "You said once before that the typical user of the drug is susceptible to influence, right? What if someone influenced those people to kill? They may have never known what they had taken, or what the result would have been." He said as a faint frown ghosted his normally indifferent face.

"What? You're saying that someone told them all to kill each other?" Duo blurted louder than he had intended.

Quatre flipped a few sheets of paper over in search of something in particular. "The evidence suggests that the people on the beach all perished from injuries sustained by their fellow party goers," the blond said regretfully.

Duo rubbed at his temples as he let that sink in. His mind was racing a mile a minute as it replayed his harrowing moments in the Underground with Heero and his interrogation. "Why would someone want to do that? If it was the ESUN then why the hell would they want to kill people?"

"It must have been a test. They were using civilians as lab rats," Wufei deduced. Duo's head swam. The Chinese man leaned his forearms against the table and folded his hands one over the other. "That's what this is. Clearly the ESUN is operating under a corrupt figurehead now. We have to share this information with Preventer."

"Huh? Preventer is overseen by the ESUN!" Duo exclaimed incredulously.

Wufei shook his head. "I don't have a shit who oversees them. They need to be aware of this. Despite how much you despise Preventer; Sally and Noin would never allow the ESUN to do something like this. It would behoove us to work with them on this task, rather than make them our enemies."

Duo knew that Wufei had spent a considerable amount of time with Preventer before he himself had joined. He never found out what had happened to make him leave, but it was clear that he still had respect for his former Preventer colleagues. It annoyed Duo that Wufei was right about sharing the information. If the ESUN was involved in the murder of hundreds of innocent people they were going to need all of the help they could get.

"We have information from one of my sources with the local police on Ibiza that they are investigating where the drug could have came from. Apparently it comes in a little strip, with a gem or something in the center of it." Quatre was reading from his paperwork. Trowa raised an eyebrow and looked at Duo from across the table.

"Huh? A paper? I've got something that looks like that in my room." Duo said excitedly. He hopped to his feet and began shuffling backward to the door. "Catherine gave it to me when we were visiting the circus in Spain. Remember, Trowa? Shit, gimme a second!" He stumbled out into the hallway and jogged away from the conference room. It was located just to the right of the Lennon's bridge. As he jogged down the hall he passed the dry-erase board situated over the chessboard. Heero and Trowa's game was a deadlock on the board. He also noticed that all of the tasks that Quatre had assigned on the board had been marked through with a red marker in perfect straight lines. His doodle was still on the board. He had assumed that someone would erase it. He grabbed the marker and quickly added a second scythe to his chibi Shinigami. He scribbled two bat wings on the top, and two pseudo seraphim-style inverted demon wings to the bottom before scrawling "Helter" and "Skelter" beneath the scythes.

After he was satisfied with his handiwork he hurried off to his room. As he approached he heard the muffle of a melancholic song playing faintly through the sliding door. He paused to listen and didn't recognize the tune at all. The door slipped open to reveal Haro sitting on the opposite side looking up at him.

 _ **"Lonely. I'm so lonely. I have nobody to call my own… Ooooaaaaahh.  
I'm so lonely, I'm Mr. Lonely. I have nobody to call my own…"***_

The Haro was belting out a sad, vintage pop song at an ear-splitting volume. Duo immediately shielded his ears and frowned down at the pathetic orb as it raised its earflaps hopefully up at him. Its normally black eyes were flashing red.

"Oh, man! Turn it down a notch will ya?" He yelled over the din.

Haro chirped and silenced itself. It rolled up to his boot and nudged him affectionately. He grabbed it from the floor with both hands before tucking it casually beneath his arm.

"DUO! DUO!" Haro wailed sadly.

"I know, I know. I forgot about ya. Shittiest guy of the year goes to…" Duo said under his breath as he crossed the room and began rummaging through his drawers and cabinets with his free hand.

"HEE-CHAN! HEE-CHAN!" Haro said perkily as if finished his sentence for him. Duo pause and glared down at the now delighted robotic ball under his arm.

"Listen, buddy. You better be nice to that guy. He's gonna be your new daddy now," he teased with a menacing grin. The Haro flapped its ears frantically and wailed.

"NO! NO!"

Duo chuckled and continued his search of his room. Eventually he found the the two small baggies with the pink paper strips in them. Both strips had a tiny diamond shard in the center.

 **Part Three**

"Yo! Heero!" Duo greeted his partner's face as it appeared on the monitor to his left. He couldn't help but smile at the familiar sight of Heero Yuy clad in full space suit looking calm and impressive in a Gundam. He was staring back at him with his intense "mission mode" expression. The sight caused Duo to feel both excited and undeniably sad. Heero was an amazing pilot. He respected and admired him, and seeing him in a Gundam again was an awesome sight. However, that stunning scene was accompanied by the knowledge that the world wasn't ready for Total Pacifism, and as far as Duo was concerned it would never happen. Not during his lifetime.

Heero's multi-colored eyes widened a fraction. Duo grinned. He knew that his partner was taking in the unusual state of his hair.

"Hilde hooked me up, what do you think?" He asked brightly. He reached up to carefully pat the braided mohawk^ Hilde had folded his hair into.

The upcoming mission required going undercover at a rock concert in Germany. Quatre had received information that led to the venue where it was rumored that the dealer who supplied the party in Ibiza would be attending and possibly supplying the drug. Their mission was to find the individual and turn him/her in to local authorities.

Duo didn't know how he felt about the new mission. It didn't follow Ouroboros guidelines at all. Ouroboros was formed to intervene when conflicts arose. This new mission was more like something Preventer would do. Despite Wufei's desire to collaborate with the other organization it was clear that the rest of the team didn't completely trust Preventer to manage the situation independently.

Duo sighed and shook the thoughts from his head. At this point he didn't care what group he worked for, or what their specific mission statement was. He wanted to stop the Ibiza thing from happening again. He didn't care whose uniform he wore while doing it.

Heero had already deployed to do some unrelated reconnaissance in Snow White when the plan to go undercover at this concert arose. Duo had changed into appropriate attire before putting on his flight suit. He packed his partner corresponding clothes as well.

Duo smirked as he recalled Hilde chasing him down the catwalk to give him a bagged lunch for Heero. She insisted that he give it to the other pilot before kissing him on the cheek and sending him on his way like a kindergartner on his first day of school. He was happy that Hilde was on the ship. He worried she would hate it, or that there would be some conflict between Hilde and Heero. Heero didn't seem to be the jealous type, but Duo hadn't lived with both his ex and boyfriend in close proximity before. Heero appeared to get along fine with Hilde.

"There has been increased surveillance activity in orbit," his partner's voice said hollowly across the traditional COM. Heero was still on restriction from using Wing-One. It had been a while since he heard his lover speak through an old school COM.

Duo nodded as he scanned their surroundings. "You think they're expectin' us?"

"Probably."

"Alright, I've got it covered." Duo said with a wide grin. They were suspended in space just beyond the local Earth-Sphere's scanning range. He turned Lucifer to face Snow White and unfurled its enormous bat-like wings. Duo saw Snow White's cape of white gundanium feathers fold down and tuck tightly around its back. He laughed as he forced Lucifer's torso to slam non-too-gently against Snow White. He clamped his suit's arms around the other Gundam's shoulders before forcing Lucifer's demonic shielding wings down over both suits. He amped up his cloaking abilities and saw the blur and wavy lines from his suit's hyper-jammer as it shot its particles out to completely cocoon the two Gundams.

"Hey, pretty boy. You sure are shiny. Your place or mine?" He teased as he dragged the sparkling Snow White closer to the Earth-Sphere.

Heero didn't reply. Duo hadn't expected him to. When his lover was on mission he never smiled unless he was engaging with the enemy or blowing something up. Or both.

Eventually they entered the stratosphere of the blue planet. Their suits began to shiver as they entered the searing pull of the Earth's atmosphere and Lucifer's external cameras filled with the fiery glow or entry. Despite the light show outside Duo couldn't help but stare at his partner, who had turned his face down to study something below the COM camera.

"MISSION! MISSION! GO! GO!" Haro chirped happily from its shallow bowl-shaped dock on the right side of his control panel.

"Yeah," Duo said quietly. "Mission. Go."

* * *

*Bobby Vinton's "Mr. Lonely":" Vinton began writing the song while serving in the Army.[1] The song describes a soldier who is sent overseas and has no communication with his home. The singer laments his condition and wishes for someone to talk with.[2] The single of Vinton's recording was released just as the Vietnam War was escalating and many soldiers were experiencing a similar situation.[3] Vinton and Gene Allan later re-teamed to compose "Coming Home Soldier", which reached No. 11 on the _Billboard_ Hot 100 in January 1967.[4]"- WIKI

^ Not much of a disguise for Duo, but eh. Any excuse to punk him out and make Heero stare at him.

/AN: Thanks for all of the messages! I hope you enjoy what's about to come. At this point there will be a lot of plot, action and boy hugs. Hope everyone has a good weekend! The next update will happen sometime around Sunday afternoon (PST)/


	39. Chapter 39

**Part One**

Heero glared down at the hapless drunk who had tripped in front of him. The young man fumbled with his now empty beer cup and looked up at him with a bleary, feigned apologetic expression.

"Sorry, man… sssshit, sorry." The drunk slurred as he stumbled off into the accumulating crowd. Heero frowned and looked down at his soiled sleeveless shirt. What had once had been white top with a black spade printed on the front was now a mixture of splotchy browns and yellows. The front of his black hip-hugging pants were damp from the spill. It was the second drink to be flung on him since they had arrived over an hour before.

Duo hadn't seemed to notice. His partner was standing at the bar completely engrossed in conversation with a woman who had given them a promising lead on their target. He watched as the other pilot lifted his beer to his lips and took a deep gulp before turning his attention from the woman to glance at him. His violet eyes widened at the sight of his shirt and the corner of his already smiling mouth twitched downward for a fraction of a second in response.

"What the hell?" Duo said with a chuckle. His female companion grinned and shook her head with a laugh.

"Looks like your friend became a victim of a party foul," the woman teased. Duo had grabbed his bare arm and was pulling him closer. Before he could protest his partner had forced his hands under the bottom of his shirt and was ripping it off over his head. He scowled as he was disrobed, which only prompted the woman to laugh harder.

Heero raised his hands and gestured in sign language to his partner. ' _That was unnecessary.'_

Duo smiled brightly and tossed the shirt on the top of the bar before signing back. _Of course it was. 'Now let me work this chick over, you just stand there and look sexy.'_

Heero sighed. He glanced over to see the woman sizing him up with a grin.

"What did he say? And what are those lines on his body?" She inquired before taking a long swig from her cup.

"Him? Eh, he's a little shy." Duo said casually. He reached over and forced a finger into the waistband of Heero's damp pants and pulled him closer as if to claim him. Heero frowned and crossed his arms over his now bare burn striped chest. "The hot wax got a little too hot the other night," his partner added as he lied through his teeth.

He turned around to lean against the bar to face the opposite direction of his companion pilot and started scanning the room. The venue was nothing more than an old industrial style hangar that had been outfitted into a makeshift stage for concerts. Heero wasn't familiar with the style of music that was being played there, but as far as he could tell it was a mixture of international bands. He recalled Duo saying something about "indie bands" to the woman at the bar. Currently there was a lull in the hangar while the next band struggled to set up their equipment. The crowd was a mixture of old and young, but they all seemed to share the same enthusiasm for the music. He wasn't impressed with the sounds he had heard thus far. There was a fair amount of loud, chaotic screaming being done on the stage. Duo seemed to enjoy it. Whenever an act went on he would stop talking for minutes at a time to study the scene on the stage. He had been doing a fair share of finger and toe tapping as well, which gave Heero some hope that the plan he had formulated with Hilde to get him a drum set would be an effective one.

"A shy guy, huh? What're your names?" The lady ran her free hand through her curly shoulder length hair. Heero could feel her heavily painted eyes still assessing him.

"I'm Max, this is Ace." Duo said as he elbowed him in the side. "What's your name?"

"Magdolna. You can call me 'Mags'." The woman introduced herself and reached over to shake Duo's hand. "Why bring a deaf guy to a rock concert, though?" She was twirling her hair around a finger and smiling widely as she studied him.

Heero continued to look straight ahead and pretended he couldn't hear her. Nearby a pair of young women were whispering to one another and trying to steal pictures of him on their cell phones. He resisted the urge to glare at them and pulled his arms tightly across his chest. He personally didn't think being shirtless was inconspicuous but he had learned not to question Duo when it came to situations like these. When it came to undercover and social situations his partner excelled. It had been their unspoken agreement when they worked as a team for Preventer. Duo handled the talking, while Heero worked the scene silently behind him. He recalled Trowa once pointing out that when they worked alone Duo was the silent stalker in the shadows while Heero was the one to run in with guns blazing, but when they were together it was entirely the opposite. Heero couldn't explain it to him. It was an unusual arrangement but it worked.

"Oh, he goes everywhere with me. Can't stand being away from me. Kinda codependent. He's like my little shaggy puppy." Duo said nonchalantly as he finished off his beer and gestured for a second one. Heero grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes at the comment but otherwise couldn't respond. He knew his partner was laying it on thick to mess with him.

"I suspect it's because you like showing him off," Mags mused. He could heart his partner's distinctive, unrestrained laugh and felt him lean his left shoulder against his side.

"That too." Duo said cheerfully. "So what do you do for a living, Mags?"

"I'm an artist," the blonde explained. "I design tattoos."

"Oh yeah? That's pretty cool. Do you have any?" Duo asked conversationally. Heero glanced over his shoulder and watched as his partner lifted his new beer to his mouth and sipped at it. He wanted to tell him to slow down, but he thought better of it. He didn't want to interrupt his partner at work doing what he did best: charm.

He let his eyes slip from his partner's face down the length of his unusually braided hair. Heero didn't much care for what Hilde had done with it. He knew it was for effect, but it didn't suit him. He imagined Duo on his lap in his cockpit hours before, damp with his hair free and tangled in his control panel. That was the version of him he enjoyed most, but rarely got to see. His partner always kept his hair confined to its braid or twisted up into something. He rarely let it loose. As Heero understood it the process of letting it free was a tedious one. He could recall his lover spending copious amounts of time tending to it. There never seemed to be a good time for him to let his hair down, and when he did he tended to be guarded about it.

He followed the puffy braid down past his partner's shoulders. Normally it stretched down to his thighs, but Hilde's knotting and twisting had made Duo's hair appear much shorter. His braid now stopped to the middle of his back, which Heero assumed had been their intention. They were trying to make the Lucifer pilot stand out less.

Except it hadn't worked. Heero dropped his left hand from his chest and reached down to cup his hand around the tassel of hair hanging in the center of his lover's back. He smoothed a wayward strand slowly with his thumb.

 _His energy just can't be ignored,_ Heero reflected. Despite the fact that his partner was covered from head to toe in black he still was the most alluring person in the building. His long sleeve black shirt clung snugly against his lithe arms and plunged open in the front to reveal his pale throat. His red key hung on its silver chain against the center of his chest, half hidden by a red undershirt. Duo was just as attractive as the scantily clad woman across from him.

He looked up from the braid and saw Duo's shoulders shaking as he laughed with the woman named Mags. He sighed at the sight of him and turned away to study the crowd again, resuming his cross-crossed arms and placid expression.

"You should let my friend ink you! He's here today in the VIP room touching up the people in the band after they play! You'd like him, he's like you. You know... " Mags said loudly. Heero could see she was was gesturing at him with a hand and raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Eh? Like me? Oh, you mean he likes to bone dudes? Well shit, we'll be best friends then, right?" Duo said, his voice surprisingly sardonic. The woman's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you… I just thought-"

"All us gay guys are the same. That's what you thought?" Duo had straightened his posture from leaning on the bar. Heero turned to face them. He was surprised at his partner's sudden shift in demeanor. It wasn't like him at all. He couldn't recall any time that Duo had been offended by a stranger, let alone about his sexual preference. He wanted to interject but he wasn't supposed to be able to hear them. He tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a questioning look.

Duo tilted his head and quickly expressed himself in sign language. ' _Don't worry, I'm trying something.'_

"Please, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry, I've been drinking… I'm so rude. I just mean you are so awesome, and you would get along with him. Listen, let me make it up to you. Seriously." The woman was frantically trying to appease him.

Duo turned around to face her and put his hands on his hips. "I guess I'm sorry too. I'm just kinda sensitive about that stuff, ya know?"

Heero resisted the urge to snort at that comment. Duo Maxwell was nonchalant about his sexuality. He had heard people call him derogatory names in the past and his partner hadn't batted an eye at it. Duo was insecure about a lot of things, but his personal sexual preference definitely wasn't one of them.

"Come, see my friend. He'll give you a tattoo. On me. Let me do this to make it up to you, okay?" Mags begged. She had grabbed his partner's arm and her expression was a sticky mixture of pleading and apology. He saw Duo's shoulders shrug before he leaned in and whispered something to her. She nodded quickly. "Yes, of course. He can get that for you, too. Anything. He's got all kinds of connections."

"Well, let's see about getting some art! C'mon, babe." Duo reached out to press a hand against his abdomen as if to get his attention before falling into step behind Mags as she picked her way through the mob of people preparing to watch the next act. They arrived at a door covered in band stickers to the right of the stage. The band started to play as they did. A man poked his head out from behind the door and regarded them with a serious expression. When he spotted Mags he stepped aside to let them pass. The door opened to reveal a narrow hallway layered with peeling stickers and old show posters. She led them down the cramped corridor to a room filled with staccato buzzing and low voices. As they entered Heero could see a trio of reclined adjustable chairs flanked by heavily tattooed artists working diligently on their customers. The low arpeggio of the tattoo machines was mixing with the thrumming bass from the performance from outside the door.

Duo had stopped just inside the door. Heero stood behind him and waited.

"Yeah, sure. Draw him something and I can squeeze him in before my next appointment," a male voice was saying from the far side of the room.

"Okay, Max! Come over here and let's come up with something," Mags yelled over the din at him. Duo nodded and turned around to face him.

 _'I think this is the guy. He fits the description Quatre had. She said he can get me some uppers, so I am assuming he's gotta know the dealer if he isn't the actual guy.'_ Duo was signing swiftly to him.

 _'You don't need to permanently disfigure yourself . We can leave right now and report him and give the local authorities his location.'_ Heero replied. Duo smirked and shook his head.

 _'Let him escape? I don't think so. Besides, I want to know more. Don't worry about the tattoo thing. I've been thinking about it for a while, it's not a problem. He'll be distracted working on it. I can get him to talk. You should keep an eye out at the concert.'_ Duo's eyes were shimmering with confidence. He wasn't sure if it was an aftereffect of his cybernetic eye, but his partner's face was practically glowing. Heero still wasn't convinced but he knew that arguing wasn't going to get him anywhere. His partner's mind appeared to be set.

 _'I'm staying in here',_ Heero added firmly. He narrowed his eyes at him. Duo grinned.

 _'You're fucking adorable when you worry.'_ Duo grabbed him by the waist and pulled him closer and kissed him. Heero knew he was trying to change the subject. He received the kiss willingly. His partner tasted like beer and cigarettes. He waited until Duo pulled back and smiled at him before continuing their debate.

 _'I'm staying.'_

 _'You're only gonna distract me,'_ Duo gestured with his fingers slowly. His face was surprisingly serious. He had reached up to brush a fingertip across the faint discoloration that remained of the bruise he had given his jaw before dropping both of his hands to briefly glide across his bare, burn laden chest.

 _'You did that to yourself,'_ Heero pointed out. Duo laughed in response.

 _'Fine, stay if you want.'_ Duo gestured into the air. 'It's _gonna be boring.'_

 **Part Two**

"Does he always look like that?" The tattoo artist asked as he dug the needle into Duo's left wrist. The man had introduced himself as Jaks, and was an athletic type in his thirties. Unsurprisingly he was covered in a wide range of tattoos that included skulls, roses, My Little Pony and dragons. His short blond hair had been frosted with blue dye and his clothes had more metal pierced through in the form of spikes and safety pins that Duo estimated hus leather jacket alone had to weigh at least fifty pounds.

"Yeah. Always," Duo replied. He cast a glance at his partner who was seated on a chair at his feet watching the man scraping his skin with a particularly intense glare. His aqua right eye was glistening and he could see that the iris had narrowed its pupil as it locked onto the guy seated alongside him. Duo crossed his black boots at the ankle and leaned back into the chair with a sigh. Heero had never been this possessive or overbearing before. It was almost endearing.

"You've got nice skin. The ink is taking to it well. You're from space, right?" Jaks asked. Duo winced as the needle vibrated across a tender spot over his veins. He raised an eyebrow at the question.

"How did you know that?" He asked. His entire body involuntarily tensed.

"You spacenoids always have nice skin and you don't have much hair on your arms. People from space don't grow much body hair, right?" The artist asked. He had paused in his work and was looking up at him. "What colony?"

"X-18999," he lied.

"Nice! I've heard of that one. Was on the news sometime last year. Big explosion at the college, right? The guys who were behind the L2 attack lived there didn't they? They finished rebuilding it not too long ago didn't they?"

Duo nodded and winced again as the artist continued his work. "Yeah. You ever been to space?" He asked casually.

"Only to L1," the man replied. Duo saw that Heero had shifted in his seat at the foot of the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's a pretty nice colony, I thought."

"Yeah, it's okay." Duo said plainly. "You go on vacation? If you go anywhere for leisure L4 is the way to go. That's the nicest colony in my opinion."

"No, no vacation. Business. My husband and I do business there."

"Hm. What kinda business takes you to L1?" Duo inquired.

"I have a couple of things I do. I'm self-employed, I have to go where the money is." The man said softly. He had paused to adjust something on the machine. "What do you two do?"

"I'm a professional poker player," Duo said with a grin. "And he's an adult film star."

Jaks paused and looked up at him before casting a curious glance at Heero. He smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah, I can see that."

Heero had redirected his glare to cast it icily on him. Duo scrunched his nose and gave him a little wave with his free hand in an attempt to dissipate the tension.

"So he's deaf? How did you meet him?" The artist asked conversationally as he returned to his task. Duo sighed and flinched reflexively as he buzzed him before chuckling.

"That's an interesting story," he murmured. He turned away from Heero to look down at the image being scrawled across his skin and immediately regretted it. His head snapped up and his eyes settled on the drab, waterstained ceiling above him.

"I met him when I was fifteen," Duo explained with a sigh. "At school. Playing basketball. He was the best player I had ever seen. Fell in love with him the moment I saw him."

"That's sweet. It's nice to see a couple as dedicated as you two seem to be." The man paused in his application and looked up at him. "Hey, what are you doing after the concert? You want to get some drinks with me and my husband? You seem like a nice guy, and I'm always looking for another couple to go out with."

Duo smirked and nodded enthusiastically. "Sure."

"Great. I get out of here at ten. Let's meet at the Emmerson Hotel lobby at ten-thirty?" Jaks was peering down and became intensely focused on the details of his work. Duo cast a glance at Heero and gave him a hidden thumb's up with his free hand. His partner inclined his head in approval.

"Yeah, sure. We'll meet you there," he said with an accomplished grin.


	40. Chapter 40

**Part One**

Duo fingered the corner of the large rectangular bandage the tattoo artist had wrapped around his left forearm. The skin beneath still stung from the tattoo application, but it was only a mild discomfort. He checked his watch and sighed. It was nearly 2100, and they still had some time to kill before they met up with Jaks and his husband at the hotel. Duo felt a little skeptical about the meeting. It had almost been too easy. He decided to discuss it with Heero when he came back from his shopping trip.

He tugged his jacket sleeve down over his forearm and fingered his top button closed. It was a chilly evening in Essen* and the temperature was only dropping with each passing hour. He crossed his legs to rest his ankle on a knee and stretched his arms to rest on the back of wooden bench he was supposed to rendezvous with Heero at. Duo had already updated Ouroboros on their status and had informed them of the plan to meet with the possible suspect. Wufei had insisted that they call the authorities or have Preventer manage it, but Duo had refused to tell him the hotel's location to keep him from interfering. He had managed this situation up to its current point and he was set on finishing it. Besides, it was an excuse to be on the planet a little longer.

He breathed in the chill air and the scent of the trees overhead. He tilted his head up and saw the moon creeping its silvery gibbous face across the sky overhead through the yellow and orange changing leaves. A faint breeze brushed his cheek and rustled through his bangs.

Upon leaving the concert Heero had insisted that he get rid of Hilde's hair handiwork. The Japanese man had insisted on doing it himself. It had taken him forever, and he had done a pretty shoddy job of returning it back to its usual state but Duo hadn't bothered to fix it. The messy braid was tucked over his right shoulder and rested against his chest. He grabbed the end of his hair with his right hand and looked down to study its crooked plait with a smile. He decided he would let his partner get more practice doing it in the future.

He could hear the crunching of footsteps through the fallen leaves. He looked up and spotted Heero on approach. His partner's black jacket collar was turned up against the cold. Duo saw he had a small grey bag tucked under an arm, an ice cream cone in one hand and a cup with a red spoon in the other. Duo raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hey, ice cream? It's kinda cold for that, isn't it?" He teased. Heero slid onto the bench beside him and offered the cup.

"That has never stopped you before," Heero replied. Duo took the cup with a nod and looked down at its contents. At first glance it appeared to be a cup of spaghetti. White ice cream had been formed into noodles and topped with red berry sauce and nuts ground down to look like Parmesan cheese**.

"Yup, and it ain't gonna stop me now." He chuckled and took a spoonful into his mouth. "Where the heck did you find this? It's like dinner and dessert in one!" He said in a sticky voice through a large mouthful. Heero shrugged a shoulder and dragged his tongue casually across his own chocolate cone.

"Outside the shop," Heero replied softly between licks.

"Did ya get a new shirt?" Duo asked.

"Yes."

"I shoulda went with ya. No offense, but your fashion sense it pretty atrocious." Duo teased. His spaghetti ice cream was halfway gone.

"You must have bad taste, then. My fashion sense once appealed to you." Heero replied coolly before taking a bite from the edge of his cone.

Duo laughed. "It wasn't the fashion so much as the body under it," he said with amusement. "I miss that old spandex. You still got those shorts? You should wear em for me, for old time's sake."

Heero had stopped his assault on his cone and was eyeing him closely with his two-tone gaze before replying flatly. "No."

"Tsch. You're no fun." Duo said sourly as he set his empty cup on the bench.

"Here." Heero had pulled the grey bag from beneath his arm and held it out to him. Duo blinked and took the offered bag tentatively with both hands.

"What's this?" He mumbled as he opened it and looked inside. Nestled in the bottom of the bag was a small black box with "BOSE: Soundsport Wireless" written on the side. He plucked it out and turned it over slowly in his hands. It was a pair of new wireless headphones. He looked up in time to see Heero pop the rest of his ice cream into his mouth with a look of smug satisfaction. "You you got these for me?"

"Obviously," Heero replied, though not unkindly. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled forth Duo's FLACC player and extended his arm to offer it to him. Duo couldn't help but stare at the offering. Heero was watching him impatiently. "What?" The Japanese man mumbled.

 _He got me a present…_ he was stunned. _This is so weird. Being here like this. It's almost like we are normal people..._

"Senpai noticed me!" Duo blurted playfully in an attempt to cancel out the sudden emotions rippling across his mind. His exclamation echoed down the dark street and caught the attention of another young couple standing on the corner smoking cigarettes. Heero's eyebrow twitched and he let loose a long suffering sigh. Duo cackled and set his new toys aside before he lunged at him. He forced his cheek against Heero's and hugged him as tightly as he could, forgetting about his burned body. His partner made no protest at the assault. "Thanks, I really love it!" He felt Heero's body relax within his crushing grasp.

"Are you sure you didn't just buy these so you can borrow them?" Duo teased as he released his friend from his grapple-hug and sat down beside him. He took the media player, opened the headphones and paired them to the device. His body felt pleasantly warm despite the cold of the oncoming night. He heard Heero sigh again and saw him shift his weight to get comfortable on the bench beside him. He followed suit and inched closer to his lover before offering him one of the headphones. Heero took it and put it in his right ear. Duo forced his into his left and began thumbing casually through the playlists before deciding on random shuffle. The heavy, catchy bass of "Seven Nation Army" by The White Stripes crept through his left ear. The beat slipped down his body and into his right hand which rested on Heero's left thigh. He started to alternately tap his index and middle finger to the common time` of the music.

"I think we should scope out the hotel before we go in," Heero said in a hushed voice as he slid his arm casually around his shoulders.

Duo leaned into him and nodded his head. "Heh, it's like ya read my mind."

 **Part Two**

The Emmerson Hotel reminded Duo of the Clearwater Hotel Heero had put him up at on X-18999 over a year ago during his stay with the Yuy Witness Protection Program^. It was opulent, gaudy and ostentatious. He was surprised someone like Jaks was staying at a place like this. He and Heero had floated around the perimeter of the building for some time before their meeting to keep a lookout for anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately the only suspicious characters around happened to be them. The angry glances from the concierge and the doorman had put a stop to their creeping around in the dark. When they entered the main lobby Duo felt like a dark spot on a shining silver platter. The entire lobby was glistening with gold and crystal. Women in white pantsuits and coiffed hair cast wary glances at them from their seats on overstuffed beige floral couches. Duo paused as he stumbled through the revolving door and straightened his back. He gave his most confident smile and waved at them.

The women turned their faces down into their cell phones and ignored him. He felt Heero's shoulder bump his own as his partner walked past him towards the left hall where the doorman had told them the hotel's restaurant and bar was located.

"Stop flirting," Heero mumbled quietly as he passed him. Duo chuckled and hopped a few paces before falling into step beside him. He lifted a hand and touched his left pinky finger to the corner of his lip and traced a "J" shape down his own cheek to accusation that he was jealous in ASL. Heero raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head.

 _'They can have you',_ Heero replied with flat affect. His ASL gestures were robotic and lacked expression compared to his own. Duo smirked and elbowed his partner in the side playfully as they entered the posh restaurant and bar. A server approached them and offered to take their coats. Heero had pretended not to hear him and simply strode toward the bar. Duo waved his hand apologetically.

"Sorry, no thanks." He said quickly as before rushing over to meet up with Heero at the bar. He definitely didn't want to let anyone hold his coat. Even the most unsuspecting host would notice the dense weight of his pistol nestled in a hidden pocket within the lining. He didn't want to have to explain that one away, and he was pretty sure Heero's jacket was hiding more than his.

He slipped onto the bar stool beside his partner. The bartender was a younger woman with bright red lips and friendly eyes. She approached them and wiped the lacquered wooden bar top with a clean white cloth.

"Well aren't you two a breath of fresh air," the woman said. Duo propped his elbows on the bar and smiled at her. "What can I get you guys?"

"What do people normally drink at a place like this?" Duo asked as he eyed an old man in a fine suit nursing a tumbler only a few seats away. The bartender shrugged and gestured to the massive wall of whiskey behind her. Duo had never seen so many different varieties of whiskey bourbon in one place in his life.

"Hm. Okay, so whiskey… whiskey… or whiskey?" He tapped his finger on his chin and shrugged. "You got that honey stuff?"

"Sure do. Want it straight up or in a mix?" The woman asked as she grabbed the amber Wild Turkey American Honey bottle from the wall behind her. Duo glanced at Heero who shrugged a shoulder to indicate he didn't care.

"One of each then," Duo said. "Please," he added. He fished out his wallet to grab his "Max Wellington" credit card and placed it on the counter top. She smiled as she took it in hand and spun around to work on their orders. Heero had turned sideways in his stool and was scanning the room behind Duo. There was still no sign of the tattoo artist. The restaurant was empty due to the late hour and the bar was only serving a handful of patrons. Everyone at the bar or seated at the tables behind them were older business types dressed in suits. They definitely stood out. Duo frowned and raised his hands to sign to his partner.

 _'I got a weird feeling about this,'_ he expressed with subdued gestures and a frown. Heero merely nodded in reply. _'Maybe we should just leave? Shit, what if he doesn't show? Then I messed everything up. Maybe you were right? We should have just called the police and had them pick him up,'_ Duo added quickly. His hands were interrupted by Heero grabbing his left arm and shaking his head. Duo winced at the accidental touch against his still tender bandaged tattoo.

 _'Too late now. Let's wait and see.'_ Heero replied in ASL. The bartender had returned and slid two drinks and Duo's card back to him. Duo pocketed his card, took his drink gratefully and eyed it. The woman chuckled.

"The mixed is called a Lawrenceburg Lemonade," she explained. "The other is straight up on ice. Let me know if there is anything else I can get you boys, okay?" She said before flitting down the bar to top off the older man's glass.

He motioned to the glasses to let Heero have first pick. His partner grabbed the mixed one and sipped it experimentally, studied the glass briefly and then pushed it at him before claiming the bourbon over rocks. Duo smirked and took a gulp of the fizzy mixture before pushing himself to a stand.

 _'I gotta go rinse this off and let it breathe,'_ he explained to his partner with casual gestures. He held up his newly tattooed arm. Heero nodded and turned back to his drink.

As Duo walked into the bar's bathroom he fished out the cleaning solution Jaks had given him from his jacket pocket. The bathroom was empty. He claimed the farthest sink from the door and pulled his sleeves up over his elbows to expose the bandage. He carefully peeled the edges up and back to reveal the rosary that had been imprinted into his flesh.

He turned on the water and let it run over the top of the image to rinse away the excess ink and dried blood before raising his arm up to his face to inspect it. The simple monochrome image of a Gothic style Latin cross had been set in the center of his wrist with its crossbar facing his elbow. Thirty-eight|| oval shaped beads were drawn in a loop up and around his wrist. He rolled his arm over and counted them in his head. As he did he pictured the faces of each person lost during the Maxwell Church massacre.

He hadn't gone out with the intention of getting the tattoo but he found himself happy to have done it. He had always admired Wufei's commitment to his lost colony with his ouroboros dragon tattoo. He had decided one night that if he were ever going to get a tattoo, it would be in commemoration of that pinnacle moment in his life. Somehow having it stamped on his skin and visible made it easier to think about. He had felt the same way about the memorial on L2, and when he found out it was gone that once solid emotional totem in his mind had melted away. His convictions felt firmer now. He applied a thin layer of the cleansing foam to the tattoo, rinsed it and gently coated it with the ointment he had been given before slipping it back into his pocket. He folded the sleeve of his shirt and jacket up to his elbow, washed his hands and made his way back to the bar.

Heero was still seated where he had left him, only this time he was flanked by Jaks. The artist was standing to the left of his partner. Duo immediately recognized the tension in Heero's shoulders. He paused in the doorway and watched as Jaks leaned in to whisper something in his ear with his hand in the right pocket of his black leather jacket. The flap was turned outward and pointed at Heero's side.

Duo felt a shock wave of panic and anger sting the bottoms of his feet and jolt upward through his body. His scalp tingled as adrenaline began pumping through his veins. The very sight of someone threatening his lover put him on edge. He scanned the room. Only one patron was left at the bar. Before he could think his plan through his brain had activated his feet. He skirted the perimeter of the room silently. His hand dropped into his coat and pulled his pistol free from its hidden holster in the left side lining. He slipped it into his right pocket and grasped it firmly in his hand with his finger held lightly on the trigger. As he crept up behind Jaks he could hear his voice faintly through the classical music playing from overhead.

"-coming with me." The man said darkly. Heero didn't move. Duo quickly rushed up behind the unsuspecting artist and forced the distal end of his gun roughly into the man's right flank.

"Yeah, I don't think so. He's comin' with me, and so are you." He said with a wide grin. Jaks froze in place before pulling his hand free from his pocket. He both up casually to show he was unarmed. Duo could see the bartender watching them with curiosity from the far end of the bar.

Heero had straightened at the sound of his voice. He finished his drink before standing up from the stool to his full height. He turned to face him with a stolid expression.

"About time," the Snow White pilot said coolly as he grabbed Jaks by the shoulder and spun him around. Duo rolled his eyes and continued to keep his weapon locked onto the blond man as Heero started guiding him out into the lobby and toward the front entrance. "Make the call. Tell them we'll meet them out front."

Duo sighed and reached into his left pocket to grab his phone. He speed dialed the Lennon. After thirty seconds of clicking and buzzing while the satellites cast his connection he heard Trowa's voice over the line.

"Duo, how's it going?"

"Yo, we got a guy we think was involved in Ibiza. You want us to drop him at the police, or have Quatre's contact come pick him up?" Duo asked as they crossed the lobby. He heard Trowa's muffled voice consulting someone in the background.

"Wait there. We'll have the contact come. You shouldn't be seen by the police."

"Gotcha. We're outside the Emmerson Hotel."

"Okay. I'll message you the ETA for the contact when I get it," Trowa replied.

"Alright." Duo hung up and shoved the phone back into his pocket as they crossed out onto the sidewalk. The doorman cast a worried look in their direction. Heero had snatched blond man by the right wrist to hold him in a rear wrist lock while he manipulated him down to the nearby corner away from the prying eyes of the hotel staff.

"Man, seriously? I thought we were cool," Duo said with a frown once they were out of earshot of the hotel door staff. He watched as Heero reached into the other man's pocket and removed as small caliber derringer from his pocket. He handed it back to him. Duo pocketed it before continuing to train his own hidden pistol on their hostage's back.

Heero fished around in his jacket and retrieved a black zip cuff. He forced it over the subject's wrists before shoving him roughly to a sit on the curb. Duo raised an eyebrow, impressed. He didn't think Heero carried around things like that anymore.

"You've made a big mistake. You think you've won here, but you're mistaken." Jaks grumbled down at the asphalt between his feet. Duo snorted.

"Seriously? You were the one who made a mistake. Now, you've got connections, right? Your friend Mags told me you can get me some Eyeshine. Where are you gettin' it from? L2? You know Miles Ashcroft?" He watched as the artist shook his head. He could hear him chuckling darkly.

"You're both fucked. You think you have it all figured out… you walked right into it."

Duo's eyes widened. The sound of tires screeching across the pavement wailed from down the street. He stumbled backward and pulled his pistol free from its pocket as a white limo came into view. It was heading for them at a startling speed. Heero had retreated back with him and was suddenly armed with his own gun pointed at the incoming car. The limo slid to a stop in front of Jaks, who was laughing. A black tinted window from the rear seat rolled down. Duo saw Heero's arms raise higher as he pointed his weapon directly into the darkness of the car. Duo followed suit.

"Good work. It's time we get these two to his His Excellency," a woman's voice trickled out from the blackness of the car's cabin. "He'll be please that we finally found them."

Duo felt a chill slip across his spine. He could see Heero hesitate before taking a step closer to the car with his weapon firmly set.

"Who are you?" Heero's voice sounded cold and forced.

Jaks had stood up from the curb and turned to look at them with a lopsided grin. Duo saw his eyes abruptly shift to look past him. He spun around to follow his gaze in time to catch the incoming ball of glowing blue electricity before it slammed into his chest. He involuntarily groaned as white hot pain ripped through his torso. His arms tensed automatically as every muscle in his body contracted with the shock. His legs immediately gave out and crumpled beneath him. He fell to hard to his knees. His pistol discharged blindly into the darkness. He could see three bodies dressed in black rushing toward them with modified rifles pointed at them. He heard Heero's GLOCK unload with sharp pops at the incoming attackers. Two fell. The third shot back at his partner with a pulse of glistening energy but missed. He heard Heero's magazine clatter to the sidewalk followed by a click as a new one replaced it.

His stiff muscles finally loosened enough for him to move. He raised his heavy arms and shot at the figure who was engaged with his partner. Four shots had missed but one claimed a leg. The figure buckled and shot at Heero again. The shot missed. He saw his partner rushing forward with wide steps and his gun raised. To his surprise Heero didn't dispatch the man to hell with a bullet but rather kicked his unusual rifle from his hand and pistol whipped his head. The black-clad figure slumped to the ground limply.

Duo heard a car door slam. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Jaks had vanished and the limo had floored it down the road.

"Shit! FUCK!" He tried to stand up but fell forward onto his hands and knees. Heero had run a few yards after the limo. He stopped and unloaded the remainder of his magazine at the retreating car.

"Damn it!" Duo exclaimed for them both. He hung his head and let loose a stream of particularly imaginative curses against the ground between his hands. He felt Heero grab his shoulder before working his way under his arm to help him to his feet. "Shit. SHIT! Heero… did that bitch say what I think she said? It can't be the same guy. He died. Wufei fucking killed him…"

Heero had pulled him to his feet and wrapped an arm firmly around his waist to support him. He was beginning to regain some movement in his legs, but applying his full weight to them was impossible. His companion pilot lead him down the sidewalk in the direction of the abandoned industrial district where they had hidden Lucifer and Snow White. When Duo looked up into his face he saw his partner's jaw was tight and his eyes were narrowed with an intense, analytical expression. He knew Heero had come to the same conclusion he had.

* * *

Footnotes:

* Germany  
** Spaghettieis: vanilla ice cream is extruded through a "spaghetti" press and topped with a "tomato sauce" of strawberry puree and "Parmesan cheese" of ground nuts.  
^ GWO Part One: What Friends Are For  
` "Common Time" : 4/4 time signature.  
(Lawrenceburg Lemonade: 1 Part American Honey, 1 Part Sweet and Sour Mix, 1 Part Triple Sec, 2 Parts Sprite)

|| The tattoo has 34 beads for the orphans, one for Father Maxwell, ne for Sister Helen, one for Solo and one for himself. 38 ||

* * *

/AN: Special thanks to Sophie3 for helping me with the tattoo thing. I really was at a loss for what to do, and she came up with this whole thing.  
Thanks again, Sophie!This chapter is brought you to by Wild Turkey! Best consumed shirtless. Milliardo approved./ EDIT 5 hours after posting: So my inbox is now full of serious hate and frustration. XD Please, trust me? Trust me! I didn't name any names. ^_^;;; /


	41. Chapter 41

**Part One**

As they approached the dilapidated warehouse multiple helicopters had begun to scan and circle the edge of the industrial district. Heero looked over his shoulder and spotted dark splotches hovering down the street with their spotlights skimming the alleyway they had passed through only minutes before. There was no way of telling whether they belonged to the local police or the mysterious group that had tried to abduct them.

His partner was limping along the best he could but it wasn't enough. He silently cursed the two scientists on Lennon for their lack of action when it came to repairing the issue of his companion's legs. Duo shouldn't have come to Earth. Not as he was. His malfunction was a liability. He felt the same way about his own implanted eye. They both should have never come. The other pilots wouldn't have had these issues had they taken the mission instead.

He grit his teeth and caught his partner's full weight as he tripped over his own feet. The sound of the pursuing helicopters grew louder behind them. They had managed to slide through a jagged hole in a rusted sheet metal wall as one of the helicopters buzzed past them.

The warehouse they had found to house their suits had once belonged to a nearby smelting plant and still contained sheets and beams of various ores. It was dark inside. Faint glowing ambient moonshine cast through the holes in the ceiling to reveal what appeared to be a massive empty space. Upon closer inspection a faint hum could be detected. As they drew nearer to the section of now roofless quarter of the structure Duo put his pistol away and had dug into his pocket to retrieve a black bar the size of a USB drive. He held it up to his mouth and spoke into it.

"Haro, code E-3!"

"E-3! E-3! CONFIRM! CONFIRM!" The perky voice of the robot replied from Duo's hand. Suddenly the empty space in front of them filled with the supine form of Gundams Lucifer and Snow White as the Haro deactivated the black suit's cloak and jamming capabilities. Duo pushed away from him and staggered without assistance towards Lucifer. Heero sighed and watched him go for a moment before bolting to Snow White. He dropped himself into the cockpit and activated it quickly while hailing Lennon. Wufei's face soon filled his COM screen.

"Mantis, Black Alpha and Cobra Commander reporting. Situation has been compromised. Subject escaped. Unexpected variables present." Heero said as he forced Snow White to stand to its full height. He could see Lucifer's cockpit close at his feet followed by its eyes flashing bright green as its external cameras activated. Duo's face appeared solemn on the COM beside Wufei's transmission.

"The subject escaped?" The Chinese man echoed, his eyes narrowed and a frown locked onto his thin mouth. "How?"

"I fucked it up," Duo said quickly through their joined connection. "I should have just called the cops and reported him like you said. It's my fault."

Heero could hear Wufei sigh long and loud over the COM. He looked away from the video feed to check his proximity sensors and scanned the airspace above them. Blips on the monitor began to accumulate within the atmosphere overhead.

"We'll discuss this failure when you return," Wufei said with a hint of bitterness. "Do whatever you need to do to get out of there."

"Affirmative. Have 04 touch base with his contact. I want to know who is in pursuit; local authorities or some other entity. The local PD should know who is in their airspace." Heero requested.

"We will inquire." Wufei replied before his face disappeared from the COM feed. Duo's frowning face filled the COM monitor.

"GO! GO!" He heard the Haro say from across the tinny connection. Lucifer stood and lifted off through the gaping roof. Once it cleared the open space it vanished from view as his partner cloaked again. Seconds later it disappeared from his scanners as the hyper-jammers activated to hide the suit's bulk from conventional radar. Duo's eyes were cast down at something on his control panel. He could hear the Haro chirping and beeping from his lover's feed. He sighed and waited to give Lucifer some time to clear the space above him. His mind began to assess everything that had happened on the street in front of the hotel.

 _Trieze?.It can't be him._ Heero reasoned. _It can't be. He died. Wufei killed him._ Treize Kushrenada had been a dictator and a tyrant. He loved war. He had been philosophical about his decisions. He directed his subordinates with a ruthless hand, but Heero couldn't believe that the man was alive and capable of directing the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. That level of carnage just didn't fit Treize's style. Heero had spoken to Treize at length about what his ideas for the future had been. However, Heero couldn't deny that people changed. Perhaps Treize was bitter about the state of the world now? Maybe in his near death experience he had become mad with ambition? Heero had encountered plenty of sick and twisted people in his lifetime, he wouldn't be surprised by any of it if it were true. Heero was convinced everyone with Dermail blood running through their family were capable of anything.

He closed his eyes before typing "ZERO" blindly with a practiced hand into his control panel. He felt the familiar, comfortable pull of the battle system as it surrounded him with its golden light and pulled his at his innermost thoughts. When he opened his eyes the system began showing him his surroundings and illuminated the incoming targets. Streams of data began to flow through his psyche, presenting him with multiple plans and various options for success.

There were five detectable tagless helicopters within range. Overhead twenty seven ESUN Virgos had gathered in a scattered formation. Beyond them in orbit were two ESUN cruisers.

"It's not likely we will get out of here without engaging them," Heero said slowly as he scanned their surroundings before looking down at Duo's face. His partner nodded and sighed.

"Man, this suuuuccckkks…" the Lucifer pilot groaned as he hung his head. "I can get us both out of this airspace for a bit with no detection but when I get to the resistance of ascent I gotta focus my energy on the thrusters and drop cloak. They'll be able to see us. What do you think, sparkles?"

"Hn. I'll work it out on my own. Your suit won't be able to handle full speed ascent with both suits and jamming at the same time. We should split up. Let me draw their attention until you get out of the atmosphere." Heero said firmly. "When you get to those ships in orbit… give them hell."

His companion looked up from his control panel and blinked into the COM before grinning from ear to ear. "No worries. I'll give em some good 'ole Helter Skelter," he said brightly before his voice tapered off into a dark chuckle

"HELTER SKELTER! HELTER SKELTER!" The Haro wailed in excitement.

Heero had no idea what Helter Skelter was, but he was willing to bet Duo was going to have a good time doing it.

"I'm at 18km entering. Entering the stratosphere," his partner said casually across the COM. "Time for you to make your big, shiny entrance."

"Good luck," Heero said as he looked down at the smiling face of Lucifer's pilot. Duo shrugged his shoulders and gave him a goofy salute.

"You're gonna need it more than me. See ya on the other side, pal."

"OTHER SIDE! OTHER SIDE!" Haro added.

 **Part Two**

Heero's face disappeared from his COM as their connection was severed. He took a deep breath and eyed the altitude gauge as it increased with their rise into atmosphere. He had passed a squad of unsuspecting ESUN Virgos with no incident. Having the COM disabled was always isolating but necessary to keep the enemy from tracing his transmission to his location. All he could do now was watch as Snow White did her little song and dance. He zoomed in on the shrinking warehouse below and saw the shimmering glow of Snow White's nanomachines as it rose from the dark and unfurled its glistening gundanium wings. The ESUN suits and unidentified choppers were drawn to it like moths to a flame. He made out the flare of aquamarine light as it activated its beam saber and began to rise and dart in stunning twists and tumbles away from its pursuers.

Duo frowned. They had dropped to the planet with little to no armament, and he knew that Snow White was only equipped with rudimentary beam saber and an EMP modified pulse rifle. The arsenal that had been created for that Gundam was insane. Duo had seen some of the stats on Heero's laptop. It was capable of extreme destruction. He knew that the Drei Zwerg system had been completed right before Heero had come out of cryostasis, but none of the systems had been tested. There just hadn't been much free time, and with Heero losing his memories everything had been shoved to the back burner. His lover had refused to take anything more than the saber and EMP rifle when they had left. Duo suspected that Heero was back to his preference of non-lethal intervention. When he saw him strike the man in black with his pistol rather than kill him his suspicions had been verified. Heero didn't want to kill anymore. Duo wanted to help him to achieve that goal.

His thoughts were immediately filled with the images of the decimated Virgos he had destroyed on his psychotic drug-induced rampage.

 _How many of those pilots died? Did any of them survive?_

He knew that he wasn't in his right mind when it happened, but he couldn't shake the notion that he had still been the hand that reaped those unfortunate souls. When he was younger and had first descended to the planet for Operation Meteor he had justified his taking of lives by telling himself that he had to stop the "bad guys". Things got more confusing when the bad guys weren't as cold cut as he had originally been told. Now there were no bad guys or good guys; just people caught up in an endless cycle of violence.

 _Bad guys. Like Treize*? Shit… what would Wufei do? If Treize Kushrenada is still alive what would it mean for the ESUN? What about Mariemaia and Preventer? Does Director Une know that he is still around? Is he behind the killings in Ibiza? Is that who Alex and Miles were working for?_ His head ached at the thought of all the possibilities that simple phrase the woman in the limo had used could mean for the Earth-Sphere.

Despite the fact that potential "bad guys" were floating around in the potential plot ether he himself had done some pretty bad things in the past year. He had killed: whether he had intended to or not. Wufei had expressed to Heero his opinion that he had no business behind the controls of a Gundam. Heero hadn't wanted to pilot a Gundam again because he was worried that he would lose control of the power at his disposal. Heero didn't trust himself, but had expressed his trust in Duo's abilities.

"He's more irresponsible than I am," Duo said gloomily to nobody in particular. Haro swiveled in its dock and turned to face him. "I just want to do what's right, but keep fucking it up."

He looked down at his left arm and studied his rosary tattoo with a thoughtful expression. He had once wanted to avenge the lives of the people he had lost. He had allowed that darkness to become him. As a kid piloting Deathscythe he had imagined that the Alliance and people on Earth had been directly responsible for the problems on L2. He had been naive, but that linear way of thinking had kept him focused on his missions. It was what motivated him.

 _What do I want, though?_ _What is motivating me now?_

He looked up from his freshly tattooed forearm and let his bare hands rest gently on his maneuver control joysticks.

"I want people to stop dying needlessly. I want people to live in peace. I don't want people to live in fear of violent, pointless death… the death that I continue to bring. I want my friends to be safe. I want to be happy. I want Heero to be happy, too." He said aloud. The orange Haro flapped its top panels cheerfully up at him.

"HAPPY! HAPPY!" Haro chirped.

"I'll never be able to live a normal life," he found himself vocalizing the stream of thoughts that flickered through his mind. "But that wasn't for me, anyway. I just want to have a purpose. I want to make up for the horrible shit I've done. I want to support the people I care about. I'm happy just doing that."

He looked down at the now blurry, retreating image of Snow White as it blasted off towards the North Sea with a swarm of Virgos in pursuit. Lucifer began to shake violently as it hit a wall of hot resistance within the Earth's mesosphere*. He dropped his cloak and disabled his hyper-jammers to allow his suit the full concentration of energy from his ultra-compact fusion reactors. The Gundam bolted upward. Lucifer's bat-like wings were loosely wrapped around the bulk of his suit and were taking the brunt of the heat damage.

He had been detected and soon the cruisers above him were scattering apart as he careened in their direction. Five pairs of ESUN Virgos slipped from the hulls of the large cruisers to meet him. He blasted out into the lower thermosphere and whizzed past a couple of communications satellites before unfurling his suit's demonic wings to their full expanse. He revealed Lucifer's two folded scythe snaths and snapped them free to extend to their full lengths.

"Lookout, Helter Skelter. She's comin' down fast…"

"YES SHE IS! YES SHE IS!"^ Haro finished the lyrics with enthusiasm.

 **Part Three**

Outrunning the ESUN Virgos with Gundam Snow White was effortless. Heero led them over the North Sea and over open water to minimize the potential damage to civilian buildings. They followed his every move without hesitation as if he were the Pied Piper of Hamelin. He flared and flapped his mobile suit's shining shield wings with dramatic flourish to keep their attention while Duo headed to space. Eventually his partner's face illuminated his monitor. The image shook as he was clearly engaged in some form of action.

"Yo! Heero! I'm upstairs and I've got company." Duo said with a cackle as the cockpit around him trembled. Heero could hear the loud ambient thrum of his beam scythes through the COM.

"HELTER! SKELTER! HELTER! SKELTER!" Haro as chanting in the background.

"I'm on my way," Heero replied. As the COM disconnected he stopped his suit short, shifted the boosters in his wings down toward the water and leaned back into his pilot seat. With a hard shove against the thrust controls the Gundam shot upward. In doing so it sent a circular tidal wave up and over the lower ESUN Virgos that had closed in on him. His accelerometer temporarily read nearly 30 g's as his suit pulled away from his pursuers and slung itself up towards the glistening curved field of stars above. His vision dimmed and tunneled as he experienced moderate greyout in his natural eye. His cyber eye continued to function as normal, despite the strain the sudden acceleration had on his brain.

He wasn't wearing a flight suit to compensate for the blood displacement and subsequent hypoxic state it caused. He attempted to intermittently clench his calf muscles as tight as he could and forced his toes and feet to twitch against the crushing weight of the gravitational force to keep himself from blacking out. Eventually the force decreased to a stage he was comfortable operating at. His body had been trained from a young age to withstand approximately 10 g's without requiring the use of a g-suit.

He allowed himself a moment to let his heart find a comfortable beat before allowing ZERO to fully penetrate his mind again and present him with the scene of the battlefield. He could see Duo's Gundam Lucifer dual-wielding his enormous viridescent beam scythes through a cluster of dispersing ESUN Virgos. Bright golden beam cannon shots were raining down on his partner in an offensive volley from the ESUN cruisers that had taken opposing positions on the battle plane. Lucifer's enormous wings were raised to their fullest height and seemed to be absorbing the beam attacks. Despite that protection Heero knew that Duo's suit wouldn't be able to withstand the continuous beam attack for long. Once he broke out into open space he directed Snow White to the nearest cruiser and careened towards the topside of the ship to slash through four of the enormous rotating beam cannon turrets before directing his attention to the second cruiser. He could see that Duo had managed to slice the arms off of nearly all of the Virgo mobile suits that had surrounded him.

"Thanks for the assist," he heard his partner say cheerfully over the COM. "Took ya long enough, though. You missed out on all the fun."

"HEE-CHAN! HEE-CHAN!" Haro greeted.

"Time to get going," Heero said coolly as he shot past his partner and attacked the second cruiser in the same manner as the first. He saw Duo kick a deactivated Virgo out of the way before sending Lucifer in the direction of the Martian orbit path and away from Earth. Once he had removed all of the second cruiser's cannons he followed and soon caught up with his companion's suit.

"Kinda weird." Duo said. Heero looked down to see that his partner was toying with the headphones he had given him. "Preventer didn't show up. Every time we get into it with anyone they're usually the first ones on the scene."

Heero narrowed his eyes. Duo was right. He scanned the field of debris the other pilot had left behind and tagged all of the damaged suits. None of them were the Preventer Taurus model.

Suddenly his radar screen began to alarm. When he checked it something unusual passed across the monitor. Rather than an individual in the form of a ship or a mobile suit a dark semi-circle rolled across his radar. To his surprise he heard a loud rumbling sound coming from his Gundam. Heero looked down to check his gauges and found nothing amiss. The Gundam was entirely operational and wasn't experiencing any system failures or malfunctions. He saw the wave slip across the monitor again, and when it came in contact with his position his suit trembled and swayed as if it were rolling on the surface of a choppy ocean.

"Do you hear that?" Duo whispered. Heero saw his eyes were wide and his jaw had dropped. He paused to listen and heard a sound he could only describe as a low, harsh grinding noise. The sound rose and fell within seconds. As the first wave disintegrated a second crept up on them and shook their suits. He saw Duo lean to the side and activate his external microphone. His partner's suit filled with an abrupt, grating bass sound. "What the fuck is that? Haro, record it."

"BRUTAL! BRUTAL!" Haro screamed.

Heero saw Duo's nose scrunch at the statement. The strange noise overlapped with the pulsating bass vibrations through his suit. The cacophony caused Heero's stomach churn and clench. He felt violently nauseous. His heart began throbbing heavily against his chest. Each shake sent the bile in his stomach hitching higher into his throat. He swallowed dryly and squinted his eyes against the tangling knot of pain forming in the center of his forehead.

 _What is this… what is this? I can't go… where am I going? What are we doing this for?_

 _ **Part Four**_

"Heero? Oi, Heero? You okay, man?!" Duo tapped his COM screen as if to rouse him. The Snow White pilot had doubled over against his five point harness restraints and looked like he was heaving. "Heero?!"

"HEE-CHAN! OI! HEE-CHAN! OI!" The Haro wailed and swiveled desperately.

The sound from outside their mobile suits continued to play through Duo's speakers. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. The noise was a strange mixture of bass and beat that reminded him of a Transformer purring in ecstasy. His suit began to quiver with each heavy bass drop. The sound was making him feel lightheaded. He shook his head and closed out the sound's feed before he looked worriedly into the monitor at his partner who was now rubbing his face with his hands.

"Heero? Hey, say something? You alright?" Duo prompted his companion. He could hear Heero breathing raggedly from the opposite side of the connection. Finally his partner looked up from his hands. He could see him swallowing a few times as if to attempt to ward off inevitable vomit. He only nodded weakly in response.

Duo checked the radar and saw that whatever dark matter had been pulsing across his monitor was no longer there. The deep bass vibrations and accompanying broadcast noise seemed to have stopped. He couldn't tell where the sound had originated.

They crossed the remainder of the open space between Earth and the asteroid field without incident. Once they had situated their suits within the Lennon's mobile suit hangar Duo slid quickly out of his cockpit with Haro under his arm and ran with his fully recovered legs down the length of catwalk to Snow White. Heero had opened the suit but had yet to get out. Duo set the orange robotic orb down and reached inside Snow White to help untangle Heero from his restraints. He could hear footsteps approaching him from the narrow catwalk stairs.

"Need help? What happened out there?" Trowa's calm voice spoke up over his shoulder. The former Heavyarms pilot had leaned past him to assist him in hauling Heero's weight out of the cockpit. The Japanese pilot's head lolled to the side weakly. He was pale.

"I don't know what happened," Duo explained anxiously. He forced Heero's left arm over his shoulder and waited until Trowa had situated himself under the right before helping to drag Heero down the stairs and toward the main body of the Lennon. Haro was rolled at his heel. "There was this weird noise and like some strange wave across the space behind us and then he just started lookin' sick. Maybe he overdid it or something."

Trowa nodded and peered down at Heero, who was just staring at the floor as they dragged him. "Should we take him to the medical wing?" Trowa asked, his concern apparent.

"... no." Heero replied faintly. Duo smirked.

"Well, guess he isn't that bad off." He said with a chuckle. As they turned the corner to head for the living sector Quatre appeared and took in the scene with his trademark worried expression.

"What happened? Is he injured? Why are you going this way, you should be going to the medical wing." Quatre explained as he gestured down the opposite end of the ship.

"... no…" Heero mumbled irritably.

"He said no," Duo provided his accurate but useless translation. Quatre frowned and sighed loudly. Duo was pretty sure he heard Trowa snigger under his breath, which only prompted Quatre's face to transform into a half smile. The blond rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in defeat before following them to their shared cabin.

With Trowa's help Duo had managed to get Heero onto the bed. He yanked his partner's black boots off and watched as Heero draped his arm over his eyes and groaned. The others took that as a cue to leave. Duo followed them out and hovered in the doorway for a moment to address Quatre's look of intense worry.

"I'll let you know what he says. Listen, Haro recorded this weird noise we encountered out there. Heero seemed fine until it hit our suits. Psssst, Haro!" He looked down at his feet at his faithful little robot who was hugging the toe of his boot. "Go with Quatre, and give them what they need, yeah?"

"RYOUKAI! RYOUKAI!" Haro obediently complied and rushed out to slam into Trowa's foot continuously until the tall pilot picked it up. It flapped its earflaps happily at him before propping open its left top flap to let its cable arm snake out. The tiny jointed hand reached out to grope against Trowa's uniformed bicep. "IKEMEN! IKEMEN!"^*

Duo couldn't stop laughing. The pleased look on Trowa's face in contrast to the horrified and surprised expression on Quatre's was the most comedic thing he'd seen. He leaned against the door frame and doubled over cackling as Trowa tucked the Haro affectionately under his arm and walked off with Quatre shaking his head behind him.

He watched them leave before reaching into his pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a thin vinyl sheet he had folded two ways and carefully flattened it. It was a sign he had found on the ground outside the room he had been tattooed in. He had decided to bring it back to the ship, figuring that he needed it more than they did. He reached behind his ear and pulled forth a small Tic Tac sized wad of C4 he always hid there***. He unwrapped the clear plastic from the grey putty and flattened it in his fingers for a few seconds to warm it before forcing it against the back of the sign. He pressed the putty firmly into the wall beside his sliding door until it stuck and then stood back to assess his new "Fuck Off, We're Closed" sign with satisfaction before ducking into his cabin to tend to his boyfriend.

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

* Treize said that 99,822 people have died in the war before the day he was killed by Wufei, and according to Lady Une, 82 White Fang soldiers and 105 of the Treize Faction were killed on that day. This would make Treize the 100,010th casualty of the war. - Fan Wiki

** The mesosphere starts just above the stratosphere and extends to 85 kilometers (53 miles) high. Meteors burn up in this layer. - NASA

^ "Helter Skelter" is a song by The Beatles (1968 ) British English, the term "helter-skelter" not only has its meaning of "in disorderly haste or confusion" but is the name of a spiralling amusement park slide. The song was covered by Motley Crue (1983 ).

"Look out helter skelter helter skelter  
Helter skelter  
Look out helter skelter  
She's coming down fast  
Yes she is  
Yes she is."

^* "IKEMEN" An **ikemen** is a good-looking man. **Ikemen** is a new word which appeared around the year 2000. It comes from Japanese ikeru, iketeru, "cool", "good", "exciting" and either men (メン), from English "men" or "men's" (menzu), or men (面) "face". - . (Ahem… clearly Heero had once thought this of Trowa?)

*** C4 smells like almonds. Which is why Duo always smells like it. XD

* * *

/AN: So I went to the CA Science Center to visit the Space Shuttle Endeavor, and I was so drunk with happiness and science that I literally couldn't get the words out yesterday. Sorry for that. Thanks for all of the support and messages from the readers. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. THE PLOT. There is entirely too much plot coming up. XD Hope everyone has a good humpday! Duo is going to. ^_~/


	42. Chapter 42

"So that's it? It just made you confused and nauseous? What the hell. I was listening to the same thing, and I didn't feel that way at all. I got a little headache, but that was about it. Do ya think it is some sort of weapon or something?" Duo asked. He rested his cheek against the palm of his hand and leaned heavily into his left elbow. He stretched his body lazily against the wall and studied his partner who was reclined on his back beside him near the open side of the narrow bed. Heero was staring up at the ceiling with an intense, thoughtful expression. Duo could see his right bionic aqua-colored eye shift to dilate in the dim cabin light.

"It could be. Possibly." His companion murmured. His jaw was tight and his arms were crossed over the plain pale blue t-shirt he had purchased in Germany before their return. "It showed up on the radar monitor, which is unusual. As if it had some substance to it."

Duo worried the corner of his lower lip with his teeth as he considered Heero's words. "You think the wave could have been made up of particles? Would that be enough to reflect a radio wave, though?"

Heero shook his head. "I'm not sure. It would require an extreme concentration. There was no way of determining its source, either."

"Yeah, I know. What about a cloaked ship?" Duo began toying with the end of his still sloppily plaited braid with his right hand. He rolled the tasseled end thoughtfully between his forefinger and thumb.

"Or multiple ships." The Snow White pilot replied. "The amount of energy necessary to produce a wave of that magnitude… would be astronomical." Heero's eyes closed and his arms dropped from their folded position to lie limply against his sides.

 _He's probably trying to work out the math,_ Duo thought with a smirk. He flopped onto his back and yawned loudly before lifting his arms up to stretch them toward the ceiling. He felt the tension between his shoulder blades release as he did. He twisted his upraised left arm to study his fresh tattoo on as it glistened with a fresh coat of antibiotic ointment in the dim light.

"Kinda strange that the guy took so much time tattooing me if he intended on just turnin' me in," he thought aloud as he turned his arm over to silently tally off the beads.

"He may not have realized who you were at the time," Heero said from beside him with his eyes still closed.

"Heh, maybe. The whole thing is just fucked. Everyone kept bringing up his husband, like he was someone important. 'My husband', 'his husband'. I mean… who was the guy, then? Shit, do you think Treize is his husband? That hotel just screamed Treize Kushrenada." Duo asked with a small laugh. He could hear Heero snort under his breath at the statement.

"Doubtful," Heero replied quietly. "If His Excellency is even alive. I have my doubts about that."

"You think that chick in the limo was Luna Armonia? The one we keep tracing back to L1?" Duo asked casually as he studied the pink, irritated skin around each tattooed beads in the dark.

"I have no idea." His partner mumbled. "It's something to consider."

A long pause lulled conversation. The only sound in the cabin was the faint, low decibel staggered hum of the ship's artificial gravity generators. Duo sighed and assumed that Heero had fallen into one of his sleeping beauty energy saving comas. He dropped his arms to his side and stared up at the muted metal panels on the ceiling. He knew he should be tired, but he unlike Heero he couldn't just fall asleep on a whim. His mind was still racing with the wild concepts from their conversation and his blood pounded heavily throughout his body as the residue of his battle adrenaline gradually burned off.

"You need to let Jay look at your implant," Heero's low voice broke the silence and nearly made Duo jump out of his skin.

"Eh?"

"You can no longer go out on mission like that. It needs to be fixed. They should have fixed it before now." The Snow White pilot said in an assertive tone. Duo turned his head to look at him and blinked with surprise as he became nose to nose with his companion. He reflexively inched backward and saw Heero's eyes narrow as they locked onto him.

"Jesus! Could you stop being so damn creepy?!" He exclaimed as he tried to catch his breath. "And I'm not all about having those guys diggin' around in my spine again, thank you. Next thing I know I'll be the ship's resident Terminator. I mean, look at you. You're nearly halfway there!"

"It needs to be done, Duo." Heero said. He apparently had no knowledge or care for Duo's media reference. "My modification needs improvement as well."

Duo raised an eyebrow at him before peering into his aqua eye with curiosity. "What's wrong with it?"

"When I reach sexual climax it shorts out. I lose my vision for approximately two minutes." Heero explained in a plain, offhand way.

"Wait a sec. You ... " He pointed his finger at him and gawked. "... when did ya? Oh, shit. So the myth about jacking off is true? It does make ya go blind!"

Heero was glaring at him. Duo could see his bionic eye shimmer faintly in the dark as it effectively demonstrated his lover's annoyance. He chuckled and grabbed the front of Heero's shirt playfully and yanked him close until his chest was pressed against his own.

"So the indomitable Heero Yuy finally has an Achilles heel, huh?" He taunted with a wicked grin. Heero's face remained stony and unamused. "Shit… that's hot, though. What does it feel like to be deactivated like that, huh?" He murmured as he let his right hand slide down the front of Heero's shirt to the hem of his pants. He pulled Heero's hips into his own.

Duo could see it now. Heero lying flat on his back alone in their room rubbing himself, making that damn adorable cum face, and then having sparks shoot out of his right eye from the force of his climax. He then wondered if the blankets on the bed were flame resistant.

 _Oh shit… we better get a fire extinguisher to put under the bed,_ he thought.

"I imagine it feels the same way you felt when I deactivated you by your g-spot." Heero replied coolly, his voice interrupting Duo's rampant imaginings.

He barked out a loud laugh and playfully shoved the other pilot away from him. Heero retaliated by grabbing him by his right wrist and before Duo could calculate a response the former Wing pilot had rolled backward off of the bed. He yelped as he was dragged down to the floor by his partner and landed hard on his back against the chilled metal below. He took a playful open handed swipe at Heero's head and missed before he was pinned on his back to the ground.

"Oi! Watch the arm! Watch the arrrrmmm!" He whined as Heero's hand pressed into the tender skin of his left wrist. His partner's hand slid up and away from the irritated skin to press their palms together. He intertwined his cool fingers through his own and held his hand for a couple of seconds before pressing the dorsal side against the floor beside his head.

Duo's persistent grin did nothing to change Heero's flat expression. His stern lover made a comfortable perch of his abdomen and locked his knees tightly on either side of his stomach to hold him against the floor. His left hand grabbed Duo's right wrist firmly before drawing it close to his face to drop his lips gently against the soft flesh over his pale skin and blue-green veins.

 _This guy… just when you think he's about to beat the shit out of you._ Duo thought with amusement as he watched his lover continue to kiss the inside of his wrist with his cool mouth. That had been one of the things he loved most about Heero: he was often unpredictable. It made being with him exciting and vastly entertaining.

Heero bit him.

"HEY! OW! OWWW WAIT A MINUTE!" Duo yelled as he tried to wrench his wrist from Heero's iron grip. Every attempt to tug away was met with a harder bite. "What the heck! Ouch! OWOWOW! Let go!" He tried to free the hand beside his head from Heero's tight grasp but couldn't budge it. Heero had stopped his vicious biting in lieu of licking and sucking the skin he had assaulted. Duo groaned from the pain. A sudden explosion of hot arousal filled pit of his stomach. His face flared with heat as he watched Heero close his eyes and tilt his head as he continued to batter his skin with his mouth and tongue.

"You enjoyin' yourself?" Duo grumbled as he experimentally pulled at his pinned hand. After a handful of seconds his partner dropped his wrist. Duo held it up to inspect his lover's handiwork. A nearly perfect circular hickey raged against his tender flesh. He forced his best scowl. The corner of Heero's mouth perked with amusement.

"Seriously?" Duo mumbled with a sigh. "You're jealous that I didn't get your name tattooed on my arm, aren't you?"

Heero shook his head. "No, I'm getting you back for bruising my perfect face," his lover replied in a deadpan voice. "Besides, my name tattooed on your arm would make things awkward when we break up."

"WHAT!? Ehh? Perfect face? And you're breakin' up with me? You're gonna leave me for Trowa, aren't you!?" Duo said with a cackle. He saw Heero's eyes glisten in the darkness. "You think I didn't catch on that Aurora's got the hots for Trowa? I knew it…" Duo said with mock pout.

He felt Heero's weight shift as he applied it to the arm that had his hand pinned to the cold floor. His partner's free hand was forcing its way up and under his black shirt. He could feel Heero's palm slipping easily across the goosebumps that had sprouted up across his skin. The other pilot leaned down to lock their gazes.

"You know I could never do that to you," Heero murmured softly. His face appeared to soften in the darkness. Duo sighed and waited for the other shoe to drop. "... he's married." There it was.

"Fuck you," Duo said with a smile. Heero leaned down to kiss him. Duo grabbed the back of his lover's neck and forced his mouth to crush against his own. He couldn't stand it anymore. Heero was killing him with the teasing. He had spent the majority of the past twenty-four hours watching his partner walk around shirtless, perform James Bond action sequences, pilot his glittery Gundam with his sexy-as-fuck serious 'mission face'. Duo couldn't stand it. He was utterly exhausted from their day of action, but somehow his body was capable gathering enough energy to react to his lover's attentions.

He felt Heero's hand press firmly into his the center of his chest. Before their kiss could deepen or things could progress his partner shoved his hand against his sternum roughly, released his pinned hand and stood up.

"After you file your mission report, and after your spine is assessed by Jay," Heero instructed sharply as he straightened the front his shirt. He crossed the room to grab his shoes from against the wall beside the door.

Duo groaned and kicked his feet angrily against the floor. He flopped around like a fish out of water before pushing himself up to a sit to glower at his partner who had just finished tying his boots. Duo considered himself a master manipulator, and he could recognize the situation for what it was.

"You're really gonna make me go to the doctor in exchange for sex? Heh. Well the joke is on you, pal. You're not gonna be able to manipulate me that easily." Duo said with a huff as he forced himself up to stand on his feet. Heero was standing by the door in his civilian clothes. He shrugged and opened the door to reveal the brightly lit passageway beyond it.

"Hm. Your loss. If you change your mind, come find me. I'll let you…" his voice tapered off and the corner of his mouth twitched into a momentary smile. "Wherever you find me."

Duo gawked as Heero strode away from the door and left him alone in the cabin.

"Huh. So he wants to make a game outta this, does he?"Duo said with a grin. He happened to be fond of Heero's games. They had developed a similar miniature tournament during the Eve War that had involved Heero, a 10x20 hex bolt and an empty can of Coke. And then there was the good 'ole "hide random embarrassing shit in each other's desk" fiasco during Preventer. This new little game was much more lucrative. Duo was determined to make Heero regret ever challenging him.

He hopped quickly on his bare feet across the cool floor to grab a change of clothes. He shucked off his concert wear and tossed it into the corner of the room. He paused to straighten his red lock key and rotated the clasp to the back of his neck before tugging a white t-shirt over his head. He switched out his black boxer briefs and stuffed his legs into a navy Ouroboros uniform. The sleeves were still too tight to cover his tattoo so he opted to roll the upper half down and tied the arms around his waist. He stuffed his socked feet into his boots. He hopped onto the bed and dug around between the mattress and the wall for his handy dandy bottle of lube. He found it near the foot of the bed. It was nearly empty. He smirked and shoved it in his pocket before stumbling out into the hallway.

* * *

Footnotes:

* Myth: masturbation is evil, problematic and causes insanity, tuberculosis, hairy palms, blindness and death.


	43. Chapter 43

**Part One**

Relena's lips were speckled with glittering shards of ice. Her body had patches of sugary frost growing here and there along her pale, slim limbs. Heero frowned and rested his hand against the clear casing above her face and grit his teeth tightly as his anxiety mounted twofold in his chest.

"We can reverse the damage. It's just a little frostbite," Professor G said from a nearby monitor.

"How did this happen?" Heero asked. His voice sounded foreign and distant.

"We experienced unforeseen changes in her ambient environment. The pressures went off a few PSI and the coolant compressor tried to compensate for the decrease." G said casually. He stepped away from the monitor and approached the opposite side of Relena's chamber. He stopped opposite of Heero and shoved his hands into the pockets of his white lab coat.

"I've been neglecting her," Heero murmured faintly. He felt the hard noose of guilt tighten around his throat. He knew that automated systems sometimes failed, but it did nothing to quell his inner conflict. He had been so distracted by Duo and his missions that he had failed to give proper attention to his personal mission: protect and care for Relena.

"Young man, if you intend on beating yourself up over something like this then you're dumber than Jay thinks you are." G said disparagingly. "These things happen. She isn't feeling a thing, and she won't know what happened unless you tell her. So lighten up, will you?"

"... she is my responsibility. Help me establish another backup system so that something like this can't happen again," Heero demanded. The old scientists rolled his one visible eye irritably before nodded his head in consent.

 **Part Two**

"And then I was like SLASH and SWOOP, and bam. All the Virgos became quadriplegics…." Duo explained with a happy grin as he typed away at his laptop.

"I hope you're not writing that in your mission report," Hilde said with a chuckle as she stroked the fat, purring Milo who had staked his claim of her lap. Duo shrugged and tapped away at the keys.

"Not the slash and swoop, but definitely the quadriplegic part." He replied with a sigh. "Man I hate doing these things…"

"You're being such a good boy about it, though." Hilde encouraged him playfully as she leaned to her left to nudge his shoulder with her own. "Which is kind of weird. What gives?"

"Eh? Are you trying to imply that I am a bad worker, miss?" Duo asked with a mock hurt expression.

"I'm saying that you're the biggest procrastinator I know. You haven't even slept yet! I have never seen you work so diligently on something before a rest." She said as she scratched Milo between the ears. The cat partially opened his eyes to look up at him accusingly.

Duo stuck his tongue out at the cat before yawning loudly. "I just wanna get it done, is all."

"Mmhm," Hilde was unconvinced. She shifted her weight against the wall against her back and crossed her purple socked feet at the ankles. Duo finished writing his last sentence, marked it with a period and slapped the send key with accomplishment.

"Done, and done. Ugh. Now I gotta go see those two old coots about my back. Man, does that sentence make me sound old, or what?" He said with a chuckle as he snapped his laptop closed and tossed it onto the foot of the Hilde's bed.

Earlier that evening Duo had run into Hilde in the main passageway of the ship. She seemed bored and listless so he had decided to write up his report rather than go to the medical wing so as to keep her company for a while. He yawned again and rubbed the back of his neck with the palm of his right hand.

"So you told me about your new tattoo, but what about your other one?" She asked with a knowing grin. Duo blinked at her wearily and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Eh? What?" He followed her gaze to the large circular bruise Heero had left on his wrist. "Oh, this? Cyborg-vampire attack. Came at me out of nowhere. Luckily I had my Holy Water and Norton's Antivirus on me. Managed to get away…" Duo murmured with a smirk.

"Oh, well. Thank goodness you're always so prepared! Hey, I just realized something's missing. Where's Haro?" Hilde asked as she picked up Milo and shoved His Hairiness onto Duo's lap. He happily wrapped his hands on either side of the tabby's head and began massaging the sensitive spots on the backs of his ears. The cat settled happily into his lap and erupted with gasping, happy purrs.

"I sent him with Trowa and Quatre to share some data from today with 'em. I saw Trowa in the hallway before I ran into you. He said they were gonna run the information tomorrow. Poor Quatre's gotta go to the planet for something I guess. He didn't say what. Man… Quatre works his tail off. If anyone needs a vacation it's him. Anyway Trowa had Haro, but the little round fucker didn't want to leave him. Flipped me off when he went into Trowa's room and everything!" Duo exclaimed. Hilde laughed and reached up to grab a book from a shelf over her bed.

"Aw, Haro broke up with you?" Hilde teased. Duo frowned and stopped petting the cat to cross his arms over his shoulders.

"Yeah, well, I guess it's for the best. I can only really handle one Heero Yuy at a time." He replied through another yawn. "So what have you been up to while I've been gone, huh?"

"Oh, this and that. Helping out around the ship. Ooh, Howard's shipment came in today. Got a lot of new books. I just started to read this one, you want to borrow it? I think you'd like it." She said as she turned the book over in her hands before offering it to him.

"Oh, cool." Duo mumbled. His eyes felt as if they were laden with lead weights. He let them slip down over his burning eyes and rested his shoulders heavily against the wall. "Read it to me?"

"Sure," Hilde said with a smile. She flipped it open to the page she had bookmarked with a piece of old, flat rainbow ribbon cable and slid her finger to the first complete paragraph on the left page and began to read.

"' _Headphones opened up a world of sonic colors, a palette of nuances and details that went far beyond the chords and melody, the lyrics, or a particular singer's voice. The swampy Deep South ambiance of "Green River" by Creedence, or the pastoral, open-space beauty of the Beatles' "Mother Nature's Son"; the oboes in Beethoven's Sixth (conducted by Karajan), faint and drenched in the atmosphere of a large wood-and-stone church; the sound was an enveloping experience...'_ "*

Her voice drifted off small and quiet into the distant darkness as he plunged into sleep.

 **Part Three**

Heero attempted to blink away the exhaustion that started to double his vision. He stared down at the fan he had been wiring into a backup thermal regulator for Relena's cryostasis chamber and tried to make sense of the confusing work in front of him. Professor G had left the Honeymoon Suite hours ago. He had no idea what time it was.

Finally his body's persistent protesting won. He piled his work into the corner of the room and paused to inspect Relena's skin as he made his way to the door. The ice crystals had vanished but unfortunately deep red splotches of frostbite had taken their place. Her lips, cheeks and spots on her hands and toes were riddled with the cold burns. He frowned deeply at the sight of it. Professor G had applied an ointment to the injured areas before he left, but they still appeared blistered and sore.

He felt intensely guilty for what had happened. He knew it was illogical and that the malfunction hadn't been his fault, but if he had been in to check on her sooner the damage may have been less drastic.

He rubbed the back of his head with his hand and narrowed his tired eyes. He stood over her suspended form for a minute before making his way out of the room and to his cabin. As he passed by Hilde's room he noticed her light was fully illuminated. He paused to glance through the open doorway and saw a familiar figure curled up on the edge of Hilde's bed facing the door with a content tabby cat nestled under his arm.

Heero padded quietly into the room. As he approached the bed he saw Hilde's smaller form curled up against Duo's back. Her arms were tucked tightly against her body and her forehead rested against his partner's shoulder blade. It was their only point of contact. They looked like a pair of sleeping kittens.

 _She must feel alone,_ Heero considered. He hadn't given Hilde much thought since bringing her to the ship. She had lost everything. The man she thought she could trust had betrayed her. She was taken from her home, her business and her life and stuffed onto Lennon with no other option. She had no power over anything that happened here. She didn't have a set role, or a specific job to occupy her. Despite all of that she was still eager to help with a bright and sunny disposition.

She was also a loyal friend to Duo. As Heero understood it their romantic relationship had ended only to be replaced by an undeniably strong friendship. It was clear that Hilde would do anything for Duo, and he could safely assume that his partner would do the same for her.

Heero didn't feel threatened by her. He had lost most of his jealous inclinations after his battle Join through Wing-One with Duo. The moment his consciousness had become one with the other pilot's he had felt Duo's pure, unwavering intentions. The experience had cemented Heero's trust in him completely.

The scene he was taking in before him only seemed to verify that he had nothing to worry about. His lover was fully clothed. He was hugging a cat and seemed completely oblivious to the fact that his friend was seeking his comfort. He could recall vividly how magnetic Duo's warmth was to him the first time he had experienced it and he couldn't imagine life without it now that he had come to depend on it. He wondered if Hilde missed it, too.

He sighed, searched the room and found a spare blanket folded in a cabinet nearby. He draped it carefully over them both and tugged it gently up over Duo's shoulder. The cat had interpreted his actions as an attack and quickly bolted from his lover's arms to hide under the bed and glower at him. The sudden movement startled Duo awake. He blinked and peered up at him with a confused expression.

"Eh? Heero…?" Duo tried to sit up quickly but he stopped him with a firm hand to his shoulder. Heero lifted his other finger to his lips to gesture for him to be quiet. "Huh…?" His partner mumbled faintly before sitting up just enough to look back at Hilde's sleeping form.

"Go to sleep," Heero said softly. He pushed his hand against Duo's shoulder and forced him back down onto the bed.

"Wait a min, I don-"

"Stay." Heero interrupted him in a hushed voice. Duo was staring up at him with wide, bleary violet eyes. Shadows had formed within the gentle curves beneath his eyebrows and at the tops of his cheekbones and his hair was still coiled in the messy braid Heero had intentionally folded it into on Earth. He had wanted to see if Duo would fix it. It appeared that he hadn't.

He let the hand he had pressed into Duo's shoulder slide up the side of his neck to cup his left cheek softly with the palm of his hand. He knelt to the floor and leaned in to close the gap between them. He pressed his mouth against Duo's parted lips. His partner hesitated before kissing him back.

"Goodnight," Heero whispered against his mouth before releasing his face. He stood up to retreat to the door, dimmed the cabin lights and glanced over his shoulder to see Duo's head had already nestled deep in the pillow with his eyes closed.

 **Part Four**

Duo groaned as the surgical probe's magnet tugged at his lower back. He could hear the once calm, rhythmic beat of his pulse over the heart monitor quicken to a galloping pace. He could handle pain, but nerve pain was the absolute worst.

"Uuuggnnnnn… can't you knock me out for this part?" He groaned down into the circular headrest as he pulled reflexively at his bound, spread arms. He had been situated prone on a specialized table with nothing to look at but the sterile white floor below him.

"We used a local anesthetic already. Stop being such a baby," Professor G growled at him. Despite his cantankerous tone his hand gently pat Duo's bare shoulder in an attempt to soothe him. "You need to be conscious so you can demonstrate lower extremity movement when necessary."

The probe grabbed his spinal implant through his skin. He felt a hard, unforgiving pressure yank at the lower lumbar disc the implant was nestled within before a sharp, burning electrical current was applied to it. Duo grit his teeth and whimpered.

"Hmmnnnnnnn man! The things I gotta do for a piece of ass around here!" He whined.

 **Part Five**

Heero had slept for four hours in their cabin before returning to his task in the Honeymoon Suite. Upon arrival he saw Trowa standing beside Relena's chamber. He was looking down at her with the Haro nestled beneath his right arm and held a cup of coffee in his left. He looked up and turned around as Heero entered the room.

"Hee-chan! Hee-chan!" Haro wailed happily in greeting.

"Dr. J told me you would probably be in here," Trowa said with half a smile. He extended the coffee out to him. Heero took it with both hands and nodded his thanks before taking a slow, appreciative sip. It had been prepared the way he preferred it: black with a splash of milk.

"I want the backup system installed as soon as possible," Heero explained as he took a step forward to stand beside Trowa. He looked down at Relena's burned face and sighed.

"She will never know what happened," the other pilot attempted to reassure him.

"That's not my problem. I know that if she knew she would forgive it. She would be understanding. It isn't her forgiveness I need, but my own." Heero replied plainly before he took another sip of his coffee.

The former Heavyarms pilot had shifted the Haro to his other arm. "I thought these things already had backup systems."

"They have two. They both failed." Heero replied. His voice was hardened with irritation.

"Oh, wow." Trowa cleared his throat before continuing. "I read Duo's mission report. It said something about someone making a possible reference to Treize?"

Heero shook his head. "I don't know. It seemed that way at the time. When did he submit that report?"

"Last night sometime," Trowa replied. "Was an interesting one. Something about making Virgos into quadriplegics…"

"I think he meant amputees," Heero explained with a sigh. He walked to the far corner of the room where his previous night's work sat on a narrow workbench. He carefully set the coffee aside before taking a seat on a stool in front of the mess of wires and fans piled in the center. "Where's Quatre?"

"He had to go in person to handle some Winner Corporation business," Trowa answered with a frown. "I told him his sisters could handle it, but he didn't see it that way. I was thinking about going down to surprise him and force him to take a break somewhere. Maybe Thailand? That is if you guys don't need me up here."

Heero nodded and looked up at him from his work. "You should go. I'm sure Wufei will be fine with it as well. You two deserve a break."

Trowa smiled and shook his head. "If anyone deserves a break it is you. Anyway, before Quatre left he ran those audio samples from Haro through the ship's analysis program. I haven't seen the results. He said he forwarded it to your inbox, and put the rest of the data on the ship's main server. I guess I'll leave tomorrow morning. I have a few small projects in the hangar I need to finish up." He explained as he made his way to the door with the uncharacteristically quiet Haro still tucked under his arm.

"Alright," Heero said as he watched Trowa vanish from the room. He let his eyes settle on Relena in her pulsating capsule for a moment before turning back to focus on his work.

 **Part Six**

Duo had been running for nearly fifteen minutes at a leisurely pace while the scientists worked out the kinks in his spine. A thin wire was inserted between two of his lumbar discs. It forced various types of electrical pulses through his nervous system to test whether the modification to his implant was effective.

He was bored. He clenched his fists tightly and bounded forward on the treadmill with a frown. His braid smacked rhythmically against his chest as he went. Just as he began wishing he had brought his media player with him to alleviate some of the dullness of the testing Dr. J poked his head from around the small partition wall that separated the testing area from the small office he and Professor G were observing him from.

"It looks like we've fixed the problem," the crusty old robotic doctor said with a wide, accomplished grin. "You can go once I remove the wire and catheter."

Duo felt the belt beneath him slow to a stop. He panted and propped his hands on his hips as Dr. J came around with purple neoprene gloved hands. He held still and watched Heero's doctor through the nearby mirrored wall as he fumbled with the surgical tape against his back.

Duo took in his own reflected form thoughtfully as he waited. He hadn't fixed his hair yet. He looked like a sweaty madman. He was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, tennis shoes and his red key and was tapping his foot impatiently. He couldn't wait to get out of there. He had been in the medical wing for nearly five hours and had been subjected to torturous procedures and tests. They had insisted that he fast before and during the time he was being engaged. The thought of his nutritional neglect made his stomach yowl in agony. He pat his abdomen to reassure it.

A slight pinching sensation in his spine was soon followed by a release of the pressure that had once been embedded within it. Dr. J pulled away with the catheter and a wire upheld in triumph.

"Okay, all done. Keep this bandage on it for a few hours. No showering until then." Dr. J said with a grin. Duo waved his hand dismissively and nodded before leaping off of the treadmill to rush across the medical lab. Professor G snorted loudly as he passed him.

"Looks like his legs are working fine," G grumbled as Duo ducked out the door. He jogged down the Lennon's central passageway and immediately detected the aroma of grilled cheese. He followed his nose to the galley where Hilde was standing over a hot plate flipping sandwiches with a spatula in one hand while reading from a paperback novel grasped in the other. She looked up at him with a smirk.

"There you are. I was wondering how long it would take for you to show up," she said with a smile. She gestured to the nearest table where a stack of gooey sandwiches were beckoning him to devour them. He answered their call and hurriedly plopped down into the chair beside the plate and bit into one. He groaned with satisfaction.

"I thought I was gonna die," he said between bites. Hilde had put her book down and slammed the last sandwich on the top of the five portion stack before slipping into the chair beside him.

"So did they fix it?" Hilde asked casually as she picked at a crust Duo had left behind.

"Mmmhnn." He nodded enthusiastically as he moved on to his second portion.

"That's great! Have you seen Heero? I've got to talk to him about something," Hilde asked as she pushed a sealed pouch of juice across the table to him. Duo shrugged his shoulders. He didn't speak until after his third sandwich.

"I dunno. I've gotta find him anyway, I got some business to settle with him." He said with a sly grin as he wiped his greasy fingers on his shorts. He grabbed another sandwich from the plate, snatched the juice pouch and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek before shuffling backwards towards the door. "Thanks for lunch! I'll let him know you're lookin' for him, yeah?"

He ducked out into the main passageway and skipped along the length of the ship. He occasionally paused to poke his head through the occasional doorway to check and see if his partner was around. As he stopped by the gym and peered in he saw Wufei was on a mat on the floor against the far wall. The Chinese man was propped up on his elbows and toes with his body completely stiffened in a perfect plank. He could make out the other pilot's hardened back and shoulder muscles through his white t-shirt. Duo slid quietly inside and padded up to him. Wufei's eyes were closed and his face was turned down to the floor.

"You know you're not supposed to bring food in here, right?" The former Shenlong pilot said without looking. Duo grinned and shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, well, rules are made to be broken." He replied with a smile. "You read my report?"

"I did."

"... what do you think about the Treize thing?" Duo asked casually as he sipped his juice, realizing only then that it was grape.

"Treize Kushrenada is dead. I killed him." Wufei said somberly. Duo detected his shoulders and arms twitching as they began to strain to keep his body up.

"Yeah, well. Yeah, I guess he's dead. I mean, I didn't see his body or anything, but he's got a grave somewhere on Earth, right?" He said with a sigh. "Anyway, I just got out of the med wing. They fixed my back."

"Good," Wufei said softly. "About you losing your subject…"

"I know, I know. You were right. How many times am I going to have to say that?" Duo said with a frustrated frown. "I'll listen to you next time, okay?"

"Hm. That's good to know. However, what I was going to say was that I think it was good you didn't listen to me. He may have gotten away, but now we know that he is involved in something more complicated than we had originally thought. This goes… much deeper than we had anticipated." Wufei finally dropped from his plank. He pushed himself up with his arms and hopped to his feet. His shoulders were practically bulging from their post-workout swell.

"Eh? Well, uh… okay." Duo said. He had been caught completely caught off guard by his friend's words. The Chinese man reached over and snatched his juice from his hand. He brought the straw to his lips and took a deep gulp before handing it back to him.

"He's in the Honeymoon Suite," Wufei finally said with a sigh. "He's been in there all day."

Duo blinked and sipped the juice thoughtfully before replying. "Wonder what's up…" he murmured. He imagined Heero standing in front of Relena's cryostasis chamber just staring at her for hours on end. He smirked and took another sip of his juice.

"Trowa said that Relena's tube had a complication. Heero's been working on another system to fix it, or something like that." The former Shenlong pilot said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "It doesn't make any sense to me. I was doing her status reports while you both were gone and everything seemed perfectly fine."

"Wait a minute, is she gonna be okay?" Duo asked with a frown. Wufei shrugged his shoulder and shook his head.

"It was just superficial damage as far as I know."

"Oh man. Okay, well thanks Fei." Duo handed him the juice pouch and pat his friend on his sweaty shoulder before hopping backwards toward the door.

"Duo, tonight Howard wants to run the Wing-One simulator. You need to log in time on ZERO," Wufei called after him as he bounced out the door.

"Yeah! Okay, later buddy!" Duo called over his shoulder as he rushed out of the gym and down the hall. He ran to the Honeymoon Suite, skid to a stop in front of the door and poked his head inside. The room was always kept dark with no activated overhead lights. Small LED lamps glowed along the workstations against the walls. Relena's chamber itself glowed with a warm golden light. Duo could see smudges of color on her normally pale face even from the door. He blinked and stepped into the room. He spotted Heero slumped over something in the corner. His partner looked up at him as he entered.

"Hey, man. I heard about Relena. I'm sorry." Duo said sincerely as he neared the tube. He looked down and saw that irritated red blotches had blossomed across the topmost parts of her body. Heero stood up from his workbench and crossed the room to stand beside him. Duo handed him the sandwich. His friend took it and bit into it with a sigh.

Duo knew that Heero would consider this a failure on his part. When it came to Relena his lover didn't mess around or shirk his responsibilities. He knew Heero wouldn't be able to focus on anything else until he was satisfied the problem had been solved.

"Shit." Duo mumbled for them both. "So what're you working on? Another backup?"

Heero swallow his last bite of the sandwich and nodded. "Yes."

"Well," Duo said loudly with a long, frustrated sigh. He slid his arm around Heero's shoulders and leaned casually against him. "Guess we got some work to do, huh? Show me what you've got."

He guided his partner back to the bench and forced him to sit before pulling up another stool. He slumped down onto it and peered at the mess of cables and tubing in front of them.

"Hell. This is gonna take all day. And here I was hoping to finally get some! Why'd you have to be in here of all places? I was hopin' to catch you in the shower or somethin'," he said playfully as he picked up a compact condenser and studied it with a trained eye. He felt his braid shift as a foreign weight was suddenly applied to it. He looked to his right and saw that Heero had grabbed his hair and was cradling its messily tangled locks in his hand.

"I never cancelled our arrangement," Heero said coolly. Duo watched dumbstruck as his partner pulled the hair band from the end of his hair and began unraveling it.

 _He can't be serious._ Duo hadn't expected that response. He had assumed that Relena's space was off-limits. He didn't know what to think.

He started combing out the tangles with his hard, narrow fingers until it hung loosely around his shoulders and spilled across his bare back before he stood up from his stool to stand behind him. Duo felt Heero's cool fingers part his hair into three even sections before twisting and folding them tightly down the center of his back. He draped it gently over his shoulder after he tied off the end and resumed his seat beside him on the workbench. Duo lifted his new and now neatly braided hair and appraised it with a smile.

"Much better," he chirped cheerfully. He watched as Heero picked up a screwdriver and began tinkering with an electric motor in front of him. In that moment Heero looked absolutely breathtaking in his Ouroboros uniform with a tool in hand tinkering with his hands brightly illuminated on the workbench.

"You know… if we're gonna fuck here in the Honeymoon Suite…" Duo began to say with a playful grin. He reached out to grab two lengths of red and yellow plastic coated wire from the table top and snatched a pair of pliers from in front of Heero. He wrapped each wire into three loops before twining it around itself to form a raised nub at the top. He tossed the pliers down and reached over to snatch Heero's left hand and pulled him closer by it. The Japanese man glared at him for the interruption but then blinked his two-tone eyes as Duo forced the yellow coated wire ring over his lover's left ring finger.

"Will you space-marry me? And be my space-husband?" Duo teased. He had expected Heero to snort and take the ring off and tell him to stop messing around. Instead the Snow White pilot studied the ring with a contemplative gaze before silently nodding his head. Duo couldn't help but laugh. He slipped his own matching red makeshift ring on, grabbed Heero's face and kissed him.

* * *

Footnotes:

* Daniel J. Levitin "This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science Of A Human Obsession"

/ Thanks for the awesome messages of encouragement and the reviews! /


	44. Chapter 44

**Part One**

Heero watched as Duo pointed an infrared thermometer gun at the tube that fed into Relena capsule from the new backup condenser they had installed on her system. The Lucifer pilot was crouched underneath the cryostasis chamber with his face pressed into a complex web of wires and tubing, shirtless and intensely focused.

"Yup, it activated. Looks good," the other pilot said with a smirk. "Just gotta make a couple minor adjustments here and …. here."

Heero stood back and watched as his partner fine-tuned a modulator valve with his fingertips. Duo pulled away from his work within the capsule's frame. His lips were parted slightly and his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth. Heero sighed and crossed his arms as he silently watched the other pilot at work.

Duo Maxwell was a skilled mechanic and fixer of all things. When they had first encountered one another on the planet Heero became painfully aware of Duo's curiosity for moving parts. The former Deathscythe pilot had managed to get a hold of Wing. It had become a point of contention between them. Heero didn't want anyone touching his mobile suit, and Duo wanted nothing more than to tinker with it.

Eventually Heero had relented and allowed Duo access to his treasured Gundam. At first it had been out of necessity; his partner was a superior mechanic, especially with complicated electronics. Wing Gundam had sustained extreme damage after a particularly arduous battle and Duo had offered to help him fix it. Eventually they had come to a casual and mutual arrangement and by the end of Operation Meteor it was understood that his friend was allowed unlimited access to his suit, and pretty much anything else that he owned. Likewise, Duo offered Heero everything he had as well.

Their mutual agreement to share had extended not only to material possessions, but to responsibilities as well. No matter what task Duo had taken on Heero made it his business to assist him, and vice versa. His partner had referred to it as being "best friends" during the Eve War and it was only then that Heero realized what that phrase had truly meant. Before meeting the other pilots he had never considered anyone a friend. By the end of the Eve War he had acquired many friends. It was undeniable at that point that Duo was his "best".

Heero sighed with contentment as he watched the Sweeper busy himself with his tinkering. He glanced down at the makeshift ring Duo had given him two hours before. The yellow-coated wire ring rested firmly around his left ring finger. He knew that his lover had only given it to him in jest, but it meant more to Heero than anything he had ever received. He pressed the pad of his thumb against the bottom of the ring to straighten the wrapped knot at the top. He had never considered long-term commitment with Duo before. He felt guilty about that. He had just assumed that the other pilot would always be there, as he had been ever since their first meeting so many years before during Operation Meteor. It had never occurred to him that maybe Duo needed that level of promise. It wasn't something they often talked about. Despite how close he felt to the former Deathscythe pilot, they rarely ever discussed what it was they had between them or what their combined future would be.

Heero hadn't really considered his future beyond membership in Ouroboros. What was he going to do with his life? What was his end goal?

After the Eve War he had gone off alone to try and work those questions out for himself. He had traveled to every continent and tried to blend into society in a variety of places, but after the distraction of a new surrounding faded he was left with the emptiness that accompanied lack of purpose. Eventually he had found himself following Relena on all of her diplomatic ventures. He had found comfort in her presence. The part of his person that had once gone missing came to life when he was serving her. He had becomr her unofficial bodyguard for a time. He had thought of nothing else, and he assumed that being with Relena was what he was destined to do. It felt right at the time. He cared for Relena deeply, and so when things had progressed it seemed only natural to start an official relationship with her.

It had been fine at first. He enjoyed being with her. She was intelligent and assertive, kind and compassionate. He admired everything she did. He had unlimited respect for her. One night things between them had evolved and he made love to her for the first time. She had felt his hesitation and took control of the situation automatically. It hadn't been a bad experience. None of their sexual encounters had, but there was something in Heero that couldn't settle. He couldn't find it in himself to really, completely engage with her.

He had found himself thinking about Duo during sex more than once. The first time it had happened he was angry with himself. He had finally settled down with Relena. It had been what he wanted. He couldn't understand why Duo Maxwell haunted his thoughts. He had initially assumed it was a phase, or perhaps his mind trying to present the idea that he missed his old friends. He had had a sexual relationship with Duo in the past, but they had both moved on. They once had provided comfort and companionship to one another during the wars, but he had believed that the end of the Eve War had been the end of their need for one another.

Then he had begun to dream about the other pilot around the time that he had received an offer to work for Preventer. He had taken it with the hope that it would be a good distraction. He would have his own career rather than simply providing support for Relena's. When he had arrived at Preventer and spotted Duo sitting at the desk beside his own assigned cubicle space the flame of his internal conflict stoked white hot. Preventer had assigned them to work as a team. They got along well, but he had always felt a thick, heavy knot of guilt tangle within his thoughts whenever Duo was around.

Duo had been single while Heero continued his relationship with Relena. Being away from her had made things even more difficult between them, and had done nothing but force Heero's feelings for his partner into a tailspin. Relena had begun to notice changed in him despite his best efforts to hide it. Finally he had broken down and told her. It was only when he had verbalized his feelings that he realized that he was gay. She had helped him to come to that determination, though he had a feeling that at first she felt like she could be the exception. She had encouraged him to find himself, but he knew that there was no need. He had been struggling with the realization for some time.

Back then he had wondered if perhaps the only reason he felt attracted to men was because Duo had been his first sexual partner. He could appreciate women. He thought that Relena was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but the two feelings were mutually exclusive. He loved Relena, but the desire for her was not the same as what he felt for Duo. He knew of no other way to truly describe it.

Heero's thoughts were interrupted by his partner's enthusiastic, cheerful voice.

"Well, I think that's it. See? Teamwork! Gettin' things done in half the time. I gotta say though, your soldering needs some work, pal." His partner said with a grin as he stood up to his full height and dusted his hands off with accomplishment. "Still, I think we did a pretty good job makin' this thing considering we had to fabricate everything from scratch."

"Thank you. I appreciate your help," Heero replied as Duo forced the flat, brushed metal side panel back over the cryochamber inner workings with a loud slapping sound. Heero blinked and reflexively looked at Relena deep in her stasis slumber as if she were about to wake from the sudden noise. Duo noticed his actions and smirked playfully at him. He set down an armful of tools on the workbench before striding up to roughly grab his shoulders and shove him backward against the broad side of Relena's chamber. Heero found himself with his back facing the Honeymoon Suite door. The sudden, rough shove had startled Heero but he chose not to react. Instead he waited for Duo to make his next move.

 **Part Two**

Duo's next move was to pin his lover's body against the cryochamber with his own. He had been happy to help his partner out by fixing the compressors for him but now it was time for Heero to pay his dues.

"So, listen. I did my report. I got my back fixed. Hell, I even fixed your girlfriend's fuckin' refrigerator. Now it's time you do some stuff for me, yeah?" He said in his best sultry voice. Heero's face continued to maintain its usual cool, poised expression despite his words. Duo couldn't help but feel challenged by it. He reached a hand up to run his right thumb across his lover's firm lower lip. "So how about a little payment?"

He smirked as Heero nodded and immediately dropped to his knees. He felt his lover's hands slip his shorts down just enough to expose his now very apparent arousal. The Japanese man wasted no time slipping cool mouth completely around his cock and began diligently working it over. The instant Heero's tongue pressed against the underside of his hard-on Duo felt his knees involuntarily buckle. He reached out with both hands to press his palms against the chilled cryochamber glass to steady himself as Heero forced him deep into his throat.

"Shit," Duo murmured breathlessly. He gasped and tried to resist the urge to rock his hips against Heero's face. He closed his eyes and hung his head as the coil of his arousal tightened within his belly. His toes were already tingling. He wanted to look down at his partner but he was afraid that if he did he would lose it. He had learned that if he watched Heero suck him off he never lasted long. He dropped one of his hands down to his partner's hair and let his fingers tangle through its messy, silky locks before he rested it on his lover's shoulder. He could feel his companion's hands press hard against the backs of his thighs before they glided up to grab his ass and force him to rock into his mouth. Duo groaned and grit his teeth against the uncomfortable pressure that had begun to gather within his body. He felt his thighs reflexively quiver as Heero's mouth nudged him closer and closer to the edge.

He heard the door open.

 _Oh fuck._

His eyes snapped opened and he looked up just in time to see Professor G walk in with a tablet in hand. He had yet to look up from it. Immediately Duo straightened his posture and squeezed his partner's shoulder with a crushing grasp to alert him of the intrusion. Heero seemed to have heard the door open as well. He had stopped moving but he made no attempt to release him.

 _Shit. Shit. Shit!_

"Oh, uh hey!" Duo said as casually as he could. He leaned forward to rest his left newly tattooed arm against the top of Relena's capsule. Professor G looked up from whatever he had been studying and narrowed his eyes on him.

"What are you doing in here?" The scientist asked with a frown. "... are you naked?"

"Eh? Me? No! Nah! I came over here after you guys ran me ragged on that treadmill." Duo said quickly. He realized that Professor G couldn't see anything from the middle of his chest down. He felt Heero shift before he continued to assault him with his mouth.

 _What the fuck!? Is he fucking crazy? … ooooooh fuck-shit-fuck….._

Duo swallowed and laughed nervously in an attempt to mask his discomfort. He tried to knee Heero hard in the chest to force him to stop but it did nothing but make his partner suck on him harder.

"That doesn't explain why you're in here," G grumbled as he pocketed his tablet in his lab coat and frowned at him. Duo shrugged his shoulders and laughed again.

"J…. uuusssstttt umm, finishing up some work here. Ya know. On Relena. Or… um, rather her tube. This tube. Fixed it. Yeah." He rambled as he pat the glass top of the cryotube proudly. "Heh. Heh. Heh. It's fixed, so um, yeah."

The crabby scientist was watching him with a dark expression. Duo felt Heero's mouth finally drop his now deflated arousal only to plant a seemingly apologetic kiss against the inside of his thigh.

Duo was surprised, but relieved. Heero pulled his shorts back up into place.

 _Okay, so now we just gotta get the old coot out of here…_ Duo thought with panicked determination.

"Where is Yuy? I need to go over the new system checklist." The old coot in question asked.

"You can forward the new checklist to me, I will go over it tonight." Heero said. He stood up beside him and wiped the spit from his mouth with the back of his arm. Duo's eyes widened as Professor G's frown deepened.

He gawked and stared at Heero for a second, stunned.

 _ABORT ABORT!_ Duo's mind screeched. He grabbed Heero by the back of the neck and forced him roughly around the cryochamber and towards the door.

"Well what do ya know, Heero was hidin' under the table the whole time!" Duo exclaimed as he shoved Heero violently towards the door. "Sorry but we gotta run, uh floors to polish! You know how Quatre gets when he doesn't have squeaky clean floors, right? Heh heh heh, okay well see ya later, you're welcome for the repair, bye!"

Once they had cleared the doorway and stumbled out into the main passageway Duo shoved Heero as hard as he could at the far wall. The other pilot landed against his back and began to laugh. His rare laughter echoed from the floor and ceiling. Despite his frustration and anger with him Duo couldn't help but smile at the sight of his partner's unrestrained amusement.

"That's it. I've had it! I can't fuckin' take it anymore!" He exclaimed with extra melodramatic flair. He grabbed the now chuckling former Wing pilot's wrist and began to drag him none-too-gently behind him. "You. Me. Showers. Now, and I don't give a flying fuck if anyone sees us!"


	45. Chapter 45

**Part One**

Duo had wasted no time getting him into the shower, as evidenced by the pile of discarded soaking wet clothes left behind on the stall floor. His lover had stripped and slammed him face-first against the wall beneath the blistering hot water from the showerhead above and began to assault his shoulder and back with slow licks and kisses.

"Dude, yours burns are almost gone. It's like you're Wolverine of something," Duo's voice carried faintly from behind him through the loud hiss of the water. His partner had reached around to manipulate Heero's growing erection while his other hand grabbed the back of his head by the hair. He pulled and forced Heero to arch his back as he plunged his head into the stream of hot water to completely drench his hair before he pressed his face into the cool white shower tile wall. Heero complied and didn't fight any of his manipulations. Duo could do whatever he wanted, as per their agreement.

Not that Heero didn't enjoy being tossed around by the other pilot. He always found pleasure in allowing Duo complete control over him. He was the only person Heero had ever allowed to have that privilege.

He felt his partner's hard-on nudge against his thigh. Heero widened his stance and waited for Duo to enter him. He didn't have to wait long. His partner forced the tip of his shafted desire into him, paused and then slammed forward. No lubrication, lack of preparation and a standing position made the forceful gesture painful. Heero grit his teeth and groaned against the tile as his lover rocked back, paused and then stabbed into him again.

Duo normally wasn't rough, but Heero figured he had it coming. He knew that his friend was frustrated. It has been a while since they had done this, and he knew that embarrassing him in front of Professor G had been the icing on the cake. He felt his legs gradually tighten with each of his partner's thrusts. Heero heard him gasp and moan softly from behind him.

Duo's hand fumbled against his arousal. Heero sighed and reached down to swat his lover's clumsy grip away and started to pleasure himself. Duo had recoiled for a moment before he suddenly grabbed Heero's hips with both hands and pounded roughly into him. The sharp, intrusive pain soon morphed into a vague, dull pressure as his body adjusted to the continuous assault. Heero had always found that a moderate amount of pain mixed with pleasure tended to magnify his body's reaction to his lover. He could feel the encompassing effect overtake his body as their exchange increased its intensity. Nerve endings across his back and down his thighs started to fire rapidly. Each slap of his partner's wet body against his own sent a tingling, burning shockwave through his core. He could feel the increased rush of blood throb against his hand as he squeezed and stroked himself in rhythm to Duo's wild bucking pace.

His lover left him breathless. Heero gasped intermittently between involuntary, strangled moans. His voice bounced back off of the white shower chamber tiles to mix with Duo's loud, raspy pants in a chorus of mutual pleasure.

Finally Heero's entire body clenched as the dynamis of climax reached its peak. His partner had felt his tightness and abruptly yanked out, spun him around and pinned him to the wall. One of Duo's hands grasped both of their erections and held them together while he rocked his hips into it. The motion forced the underside of Heero's arousal to slip against his partner's wet, searing hardness. Duo's unoccupied hand had pressed against Heero's forehead to tilt his face up. He felt his lover's fingertips slick his wet hair away from his eyes before forcing their gazes to meet. He stared into the deep, swirl of dark lust within his lover's violet eyes and felt the primal need for release manifest and shove him past the point of no return. He came, and as he did his vision flickered and brightened. The last thing he saw as he plunged into darkness was Duo's purple-blue, glowing irises.

 **Part Two**

Duo watched as Heero's ridiculously sexy "oh" face ignited with his climax. As his lover met his satisfaction he saw the bionic eye glow bright white from deep within the pupil before it appeared to short out with a flickering spark.

 _Holy shit._ _HOLY SHIT! It really did spark!_

What had initially been a fun experiment suddenly didn't seem so fun anymore. Duo rinsed his hand clean of both their spent, sticky ejaculations before grasping Heero's face with both hands. His partner's blank stare confirmed his suspicion.

"Oh fuck. Fuck, Heero? Oi, can you hear me?!" He yelled into his face. Heero frowned and his right eyebrow twitched.

"Baka. I said it makes me lose my vision, not my hearing." Heero grumbled in response.

Duo sighed in relief before he murmured in response. "Hell. I've never fucked someone blind before. Not as much of a rush as I thought it'd be. So … it's supposed to come back on, right? Because I think the one cyborg eye is sexy, but if you need both redone…"

Heero blinked heavily in what Duo assumed was an experimental reset.

"Two minutes," his partner replied plainly as he leaned back against the smooth, wet tiles behind him. Duo raised a hand and waved it in front of Heero's face with a smirk.

 _He really can't see me. Wow..._

"Wow." Duo echoed his thoughts. He let his fingertips slip over Heero's cheek and smiled. "You're pretty damn adorable when you're helpless."

"... spare me the jokes."

"Aw, come on. You gotta admit this shit is funny. Don't let 'em fix it, I think I like it." Duo said with a chuckle. Heero swat his hand away from his face and scowled.

"Don't make me kill you," his sopping wet, blind and irritated lover mumbled halfheartedly as he crossed his arms over his chest. Duo laughed at him.

"Ooh, it's been a long time since I've heard that one. C'mon Daredevil, gimme your best shot." He taunted. He poked his partner's taut abdomen tauntingly.

The shower chamber door opened and the air around them quivered as the pressure within the sealed room alleviated momentarily. The overhead fans buzzed louder to compensate for the change.

"CLEAN! CLEAN!"

"No, you're not coming in with me. Stay here." Trowa's voice said from the entryway.

Duo poked his head through the curtain and saw the tall pilot shuffle in wearing nothing but a towel and flipflops. Haro was rocking and bobbing impatiently inside the closed front door.

"Hey!" Duo greeted him cheerfully. Trowa stopped and gave him an acknowledging nod.

"Am I interrupting anything?" The former Heavyarms pilot asked casually. Duo shook his head.

"Nah, just finishing up. Heero's a little broken at the moment. I'm waitin' for his eyeballs to reboot." He replied with a smile. He heard his blinded partner snort from behind him.

Trowa smirked and nodded before vanishing through the curtain directly across from him.

"You're going to do your simulation, right?" Trowa's voice echoed from the ceiling.

Duo blinked and cursed. "Fuck, I forgot all about that."

"I passed Wufei on my way down here. He was on his way to the hangar." Trowa reported from his stall.

"Tsch, yeah. I'll be down there in a minute." Duo grumbled. When he turned around he saw that Heero had moved to stand beneath the high pressure spray of the showerhead. He had started washing and was in the process of removing the ambrosial scented suds from his sleek, athletic body. Duo studied the cut lines of his friend's back as he approached him from behind.

 _Man, he's fucking gorgeous._

He couldn't believe how fast his partner's electrical burns had healed. The long red vertical stripes had once been covered in blisters but were now merely a faded, pale pink. He had always marveled at how fast Heero could recover from injury. The guy was practically indestructible. Duo smiled and wrapped his arms warmly around his partner from behind and rested his chin on his wet shoulder. Heero continued to rinse off for a few seconds before tilting his head to the side to look at him with his apparently reactivated aqua eye.

"Now that our marriage is consummated," Duo said with a chuckle. "I gotta get to work. You gonna be okay without me, waifu?"

"WAIFU! WAIFU!" Haro chanted from the doorway. Heero rolled his eyes and shook his head as Duo kissed the side of his neck and squeezed him possessively.

"I liked it, so I put a ring on it!" He exclaimed loudly, squeezed his prickly lover again and nuzzled his cheek before he let go. He grabbed a towel and hurried to the door. Haro bounced and wobbled as he approached. "Okay, buddy. Ya gotta stop schmoozin' Trowa, it's time to get to work."

"RYOUKAI! RYOUKAI!"

 **Part Three**

 **Activation Sequence Complete. Formative evaluation will commence in thirty seconds.** Wing-One announced in her sultry computer voice.

Duo grit his teeth and resisted the urge to yawn. He had already completed three battle scenarios and had started to get bored with the entire process. He knew that everyone authorized to work with Wing-One was required to put in a certain number of practice hours a month, but he wished that the battles and practice problems could be more exciting and challenging.

He felt the constrictive force of the ferroelectric suit tighten around his body as the system recalibrated.

"HEE-CHAN! HEE-CHAN!" He heard Haro chirping and beeping from its dock in front of him.

 _"External camera,"_ Duo commanded the battle system with a silent, mental command. Immediately his vision was flooded with images from Lucifer's external camera. He saw movement from the hangar floor below and upon closer inspection saw that Heero standing with Hilde beside a newly arrived shipping crate. They were both dressed in Ouroboros space suits. His lover was holding a clipboard and appeared to be inspecting it closely while Hilde leaned forward and pointed at something on the list.

 _Huh. I wonder what they're up to..._

He knew that he shouldn't snoop but he couldn't help it. The two of them huddled together like that was just too damn cute and he had to know what they were talking about. He narrowed his eyes and merely had to make his desires known. The system complied and zoomed in on the two figures. His microphone focused on their conversation and broadcast through his immersion helmet.

"It should be everything," Hilde said with a sigh. "He said he inspected it before the shipment. Right here. Crate four."

Heero nodded and flipped the page over to casually glance at it and then tucked the clipboard under his arm. "I'll set it up tonight."

"Where are you going to put it?" Hilde asked. Heero began circling the crate to walk around to the back of it. Hilde was following him. As they moved behind the box the audio feed began to weaken.

"... roo...away from…" was all Duo could make out of Heero's response.

 _Shit. What the hell is he talking about?_ Duo hated being out of the loop and he knew that his curiosity was going to eat away at him until he could feed it the facts.

 **Formative evaluation, activated.**

The image of the shipping crates was interrupted by a black screen. Soon the glistening projection of a starfield came into view. New mock mission parameters began to scroll in front of his eyes to present his new assignment. He frowned and tapped his fingers on his armrest and decided that after he finished his training he was going to get to the bottom of whatever Heero and Hilde were scheming.

 **Part Four**

"They want to connect you to an electroencephalograph and feed the sound to you again," Wufei said. He lifted a squat, white plastic cup to his lips to drink from his steaming hot green tea. He gestured to the sealed clear plastic carafe that housed the entire brewed batch. "Tea?"

Heero shook his head at the offering and finished chewing his mouthful fresh udon noodles that had arrived through the resupply delivery. He took a long swig of water from a sealed pouch in front of him before he spoke. "Jay mentioned something about low-amplitude subliminal code in the broadcast. I felt confused. Do you think this could be some form of mind control?"

Wufei nodded and set his cup down. The Chinese man wrapped his thin fingers around it carefully before replying. "It's a possibility. However, it doesn't explain why it didn't have the same effects on Maxwell as it had on you."

"Brain chemistry, wavelength differentials, or his brain is just too hyperactive to have noticed. I have thought about it, and I think perhaps my recent brain alteration by the nanomachines may have made me more susceptible. I've been having trouble with my focus. It was something I was going to have Jay assess when I get my eye looked at." Heero explained as he finished off the last of his noodle soup and set the bowl and chopsticks aside. Wufei was picking at a bowl of rice but had yet to eat any.

"Our world has formed a pact for disarmament of violent weapons, only to develop forms of nonviolent that have the potential to be just as bad." The former Shenlong pilot said sourly. His dark eyes were fixed on his face with an intensity that Heero hadn't seen in him in a long time. "If our suspicions are correct, we will have to develop ways to combat it. Your being involved with this is a liability until we can find a way to negate the effects. Maxwell, too."

"Understood," Heero replied softly. "I will submit to any type of test that is necessary to cancel the effects. Perhaps you should pilot Snow White instead."

"I didn't say that was what I wanted," Wufei replied quickly. Heero took another long sip of his water and sighed.

"But it is the next logical step. I told you before, I don't think I feel comfortable… doing that anymore. It seems like ever since we've established his organization we've brought more harm than good. Duo has been forced through the wringer more than once now. How many more situations will happen before it's me? Before I lose control like he has?" He leaned back into his chair and broke his gaze with the other pilot to look down at his empty bowl instead. "ZERO has shown that situation to me multiple times now. It showed me wiping out a resource satellite. I don't know why, or where it received the data for the projection. Four times, the same scenario. Mass destruction, even with the nonviolent option. Wufei… if I can be easily confused, I have no business piloting a mobile suit."

Heero hadn't told anyone about his ZERO visions, not even his partner. He had tried not to think about it, and had felt confident that it was just a fluke until the confusing broadcast had struck him. He hadn't been able to shake the feeling that it was a premonition, as ridiculous as it seemed. As if ZERO was trying to warn him of something.

"I have no interest in piloting that Gundam. I can work effectively from the Zan. That mobile suit was made for you, Yuy. You should have voiced your concerns sooner, we can install failsafes to make certain you won't lose control and deactivate you. I have noticed that you and Maxwell are losing confidence in yourselves. There is no room for hesitation here. I have full confidence in you both. Maxwell has had some issues, yes, but his intentions are pure. By your confession and candid language I know that you can be trusted. Please, just trust in yourself. Winner, Barton and I are all here to back you up." Wufei's jaw tightened as he paused. His eyes appeared distant as if he were considering something. "I know your ideals must follow that Total Pacifism is achievable, but you and I both know that no amount of peace can be obtained without a fight. We are here to fight, and if people have to die along the way, then it is a sacrifice to the cause. I know that sounds callous of me, but if I am willing to die for the cause then so too should the enemy for theirs. Our decision to make this organization focus on nonviolent alternatives is not a call for pacifism. By removing things like raw beam power we have merely evened the playing field and lessen the probability of death. It will still happen. The question you must ask yourself is this: are you prepared to take lives again, Yuy?"

Heero felt his chest ache at the thought. He had promised himself he wouldn't have to kill anymore. By dispatching Mariemaia Kushrenada and releasing her from her violence he had released himself, and yet he couldn't stop. He had for a time avoided it while he was with Relena, and when he was working in Preventer until the mission that had caused Duo to quit. That had been an isolated kill. However, he had found himself easily snuffing out lives ever since he had reunited with Duo on X-18999. The situations had been extreme, and he had felt triggered more than once, but it had still happened nonetheless.

It all came so easily. He had never once hesitated.

He felt the tug of war within him intensify. He had avoided facing this internal conflict fully until now, but Wufei was right. He needed to face it and make a decision. To his surprise the Chinese pilot stood from his seat and was looking down at him, waiting for an answer.

"This shouldn't be something you have to think too hard about," the Chinese man said coolly. "You know what the answer is. You will or you will not? This I must know. Your indecision makes you more dangerous than any confident right or wrong decision ever could."

Heero frowned and straightened in his chair. "I will. I will kill," he said.

* * *

/AN: 3-10-2017. Edited to make it a little more understandable. A question was posed as to why both of Heero's eyes fuck up when he orgasms and not just the bionic one. I was going to explain this in better detail when he gets it fixed, but basically it shorts out the chip they put at the back of his head where all of his vision is processed, not necessarily just the fake eye itself. XD Electricity and all that crazy. Hope this helps./


	46. Chapter 46

**Part One**

"We'll start with the beginning of the broadcast being somewhat muted, and then gradually turn it to the decibel that you experienced in space." Professor G explained from beneath Heero's chair. Duo crossed his arms over the chest of his Ouroboros space suit and watched as the old scientist rotated and aligned the subwoofer Howard had managed to assemble with some scraps from his storage room. It wasn't the prettiest work he had seen the old Sweeper do, but it was pretty impressive that he had even managed to construct it in such a short time frame.

His partner's face bore its usual default calm, composed expression. Dr. J adjusted a sticky probe on Heero's right temple with his claw-like hand. His partner's aquamarine bionic eye shifted and his pupil constricted as the claw neared him. He was seated patiently on a plain, white plastic chair in nothing but a pair of navy blue Ouroboros gym shorts and white socks. His chest and back were laden with various electrodes and EKG leads. A blood pressure cuff encircled his right bicep and a pulse oximeter was clipped to the middle finger of his left hand. Duo spotted the yellow wire ring on Heero's left ring finger. Despite Dr. J's insistence his partner refused to take it off for the test.

A curtain of multicolor wires cascaded from the halo around the crown of Heero's head to form thick, tangled piles on the floor beside the chair. Four tripods topped with compact speakers had been spaced evenly around his partner. The retiform jumble of cables and wires all led to a single massive computer that had been wheeled into the corner of the medical wing. A portable, thin metal partition wall had been erected between Heero's position and that of the computer.

"So, if this thing really has a message or something, don't you think we should… I dunno, strap him down just in case he goes bananas and tries to kill us?" Duo pointed out. Heero narrowed his eyes at him as he made the comment but didn't appear offended by the statement.

"We've thought of that," Dr. J replied with a grin. "If he gets too out of control we'll send a shock through him to blind him. Here, you want to hold the pacifier?" The old man shuffled over and shoved a small box with a switch against Duo's chest. He grabbed it before it fell to the floor and blinked down at the simple red toggle switch. "ZAP" had been written sloppily onto a label on the 'on' side of the box. Duo smirked and shrugged a shoulder. When he looked up Heero's eyes were locked onto him.

"Heh, maybe we should test this thing out, ne?" Duo teased as he fingered the switch threateningly. "Why can't I have one of these things all the time?"

"Stop horsing around and go outside," Professor G grumbled. Duo frowned and shrugged a shoulder before making his way out of the medical wing and to the hallway. As he exited he saw Hilde as she rounded the corner at the end of the hall. She was holding Milo tightly in her arms and greeted him with a bright smile.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked casually as she took a place beside him in front of the massive picture window that allowed for outside observation to the medical wing.

"Eh, they're gonna fuck Heero up in the name of science," Duo replied with a frown as he looked in on the two scientists while they finished connecting his partner to their makeshift torture device. Heero was staring down at the ground in front of him with a decidedly blank expression.

"Aw. Poor Heero. Does he really need to do this?" Hilde asked worriedly as she squeezed the limp and purring Milo against her chest. Duo reached out to scratch the cat between his ears before crossing his arms.

"He wanted them to. Said it was important. I guess it kinda is, but it still sucks. I'd rather be the one doing it, honestly, but he said he wanted to replicate his personal response. Or some shit." Duo said in a low voice. Heero glanced up at them from his chair. He slid the pulse oximeter from his finger to free his hands and started signing to him through the window.

 _'I'd rather she not see this,_ ' his partner gestured in ASL. His face continued to reflect his usual phlegmatic disposition. Duo nodded that he understood. He poked his head into the medical wing and placed Heero's zapper on the nearest table.

"Something's come up!" He announced grandly, gave Heero a wink and ducked back out into the passageway. He wrapped his arm around Hilde's shoulders and began to lead her away from the window in the direction of the galley. "Man, I'm starving! Could ya make me some cookies?"

"Cookies? Well, yeah. I guess I could." Hilde replied from beneath his arm. Duo sighed and squeezed her shoulders tightly as they rounded the corner.

"I'll help ya. We can bring 'em for Heero later. He's gonna need some." He said quietly through his forced, projected smile.

 **Part Two**

Heero tossed his cookies.

His torso curled forward involuntarily as the bass tones shook his intestines and forced his stomach to violently clench. The force of the movement had shoved the acid and bile in his stomach up and out. The floor in front of him was soon painted bright yellow and green. Luckily he had chosen not to eat before this procedure. Once his stomach was void of all of its contents he merely dry-heaved as the transmission coursed through his body.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus on a single thought. The first thing that came to mind was Relena. Her serious face blinked into view before it morphed and faded around the edges. He couldn't recall or envision her eye color, or how her bangs were styled. He tried to focus on her mouth and recall the shape of her lower lip but he couldn't bring it to mind. It felt as if the vibrations within his brain had forced his memories to loosen. They spun and floated just beyond his reach. The more he tried to recall the more distant his recollections seemed to get.

"Let's stop it, it looks like he's had it." Professor G said from behind the partition wall. Heero shook his head and waved a hand to protest.

"No." He forced through gritted teeth. "... not yet."

Despite his physical reaction to the crushing wave of sound he still hadn't met the same level of confusion he had felt while in his mobile suit. He began to wonder whether it would happen at all. They had detected the wave on radar and had speculated that it was carried over a particle of some kind. Perhaps it wouldn't have the same effect without the added carrier.

Heero had to know. If they stopped now they risked the trial yielding little to no result, and it would have all been for nothing. He wanted to know what had caused his confusion. If they couldn't replicate it in the lab then they would not be able to develop a system to stop it from happening again.

He opened his eyes and clutched his knees as the long wavelengths licked at his body from every angle. Eventually the combination formed a tight, roiling sensation in his frontal lobe. His natural eyeball began to twitch as a steady pulsating began to match the audible sound that surrounded him.

He saw Dr. J's head poke out from around the partition wall beside the computer. His grinning, robotic face was framed by a pair of black electronic noise cancelling headphones. He gave Heero a thumb's up. Heero nodded weakly in reply.

"TURN IT UP!" Dr. J yelled over his shoulder before vanishing around the partition again. The chair beneath him began to vibrate as the subwoofer throbbed with an increased intensity. This time the volume hadn't increased at all. The broadcast had shifted to a frequency that he couldn't detect with human hearing.

It was that sudden push that forced his brain into the state of confusion he had experienced in Gundam Snow White. His vision began to double and his heart started to pound desperately against the inside of his rib cage. He was panicked and confused.

 _Why am I doing this? What is all of this for? What is the point?_ _What was I supposed to do… when this happens… Why is this happening to me? Who am I here for?_

The muscles in his body released their tension in unison. He sat weakly against the back of the chair and stared up at the ceiling as the vibrations messaged the cells in his body as if to placate them.

 **Part Three**

"I thought you said you were going to save some for Heero?" Hilde asked as she attempted to add more chocolate chip cookies with spatula to her gradually shrinking stack. Duo licked a smudge of melted chocolate from the corner of his mouth and nodded before shoving in another.

"I am!" He exclaimed with through his mouthful. "Keep 'em coming, though."

Hilde shook her head and sighed as she shoved a pan of rounded raw cookie dough into the oven. "You're so lucky. I eat two cookies and I have thigh jiggles for a week."

"Eat a damn cookie," he said with a smirk as he held one up at her. "Who doesn't like a callipygian lady?"

Hilde blinked and stared at the cookie. "What did you just call me?""

"Callipygian. Means ya got a nice booty." Duo said as he waved the cookie at her. Hilde laughed and took the offering with as shake of her head.

"I have never been complimented so eloquently," Hilde said while she took the seat across from him.

"Father Maxwell used to let us kids go through his books in his office. I found this one about sculpture and art. That's where I saw that word. It was probably the closest thing to porn in that room. I spent a lot of time wondering who was hotter: Boticelli's Venus or Michaelangelo's David." Duo explained before he gulped down half a cup of milk. He wiped his milk mustache off with the back of his hand and smiled.

"Well, who won? Venus or David?" Hilde asked before popping the entire cookie into her mouth.

"I could never decide. It was like comparing apples to oranges. I liked both. Then I started to make up stories in my head about the kind of people they were. Like, I always imagined Venus to be an orphan like me. She was alone, but strong and smart. She made friends with everyone. David was a guy who couldn't make friends, but eventually he met Venus and they formed a superhero team. Together they descended Dante's Inferno and fought the demons and dark creatures there. Except once they sat down to talk to those guys they realized that they were just outcasts too, so they taught the demons to be a little nicer. Took 'em to the surface one at and time and showed 'em that they could be loved too…" He recalled his childish fantasies with a wistful sigh. "I was a pretty dumb kid."

Hilde swallowed her cookie and chuckled. "You sounded so cute. I wish I could have met you when you were little."

"Yeesh, no you don't. I was a little jerk." He said with a frown.

"WAS?" Hilde taunted as she snagged another cookie. Duo snorted and nibbled the edge of his eighth.

"Even worse than I am now, if you can even imagine that. I had a shitty attitude. Poor Sister Helen…" he rested his elbows on the table and studied his exposed and now scabby rosary tattoo with a frown. "That woman was a saint."

Milo meowed as he padded out from his hiding spot beneath the table and rubbed against his uniformed calf. He reached down and rubbed the cat's downy back. "Now a little Hilde, that sounds cute as hell."

"I _was_ pretty cute. I used to have long hair. Lots of hobbies. Dancing, mostly. My mom wanted me to join ballet so badly. She was heartbroken when I started hip-hop and interpretive dance instead." Hilde said with an accomplished smile. "She wanted me to be her little girly-girl, but it never happened."

"So you were a tomboy, right? How many little boys did you beat up?" Duo asked with a smile as before he finished off his milk.

"Eh, only a couple dozen or so." Hilde replied. "I loved sports. Played field hockey the longest. Baseball was fun, too. You played basketball, didn't you?"

"Yeah. The orphanage didn't have a lot of money, so we could only play stuff that didn't require lots of gear. Soccer or basketball, mostly. Or something Sister Helen called 'cross country racing' which was just us running up and down the street and empty dirt lots until we weren't hyper anymore." He said with a smirk. He looked up from inspecting his healing arm and watched as Hilde sipped her milk. Milo jumped into his lap and claimed it as his own. He stroked the fluffy mop in his lap affectionately.

"I wonder what Heero was like as a kid," Hilde pondered aloud. Duo shrugged a shoulder and shook his head.

"I get the impression he was pretty quiet. Probably a nerd." Duo said before shoving the remainder of the cookie he had been nibbling into his mouth. Movement from the doorway materialized into an Ouroboros uniformed Wufei. The Chinese man crossed the galley and reached into the narrow brushed steel refrigerator to retrieve a cold water pouch. "Prolly like this dork over here," Duo added through his mouthful of cookie while jerking a thumb in Wufei's direction.

"Your insults are so uninspired," Wufei replied coolly before taking a seat beside him. Milo meowed happily and jumped off of Duo's lap in exchange for Wufei's. The Chinese man stroked the cat gently between the ears as he took a sip of his water.

Duo laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, have ya seen Haro?"

"The last time I saw it, it was staring at the release hatch that leads to the passenger shuttle. Trowa left a few hours ago for Earth." Wufei explained as he grabbed a cookie from the plate in the center of the table. He turned it over in his hand to inspect it before taking an experimental bite. "These are good."

"Hilde's the best, isn't she? You should try her Italian stuffed shells. MMMMmmmmaaannnnnnnn…." Duo tilted his head and groaned with pleasure at the memory. Hilde rolled her eyes and smiled.

"They're not that great," she replied modestly.

Wufei shook his head. His first cookie had vanished only to be replaced by a second one. "Maxwell may be an edacious bottomless pit, but he does have decent taste when it comes to food," he said before taking an appreciative bite of his second treat.

"Well thank you." Hilde said as the tops of her cheeks began to glow with an embarrassed erubescence.

The conversation was soon interrupted by the overhead speaker. **_"Aye, yo. Duo. Come get your boyfriend,"_** Howard's relaxed voice crackled through. **_"Huh… what did he say? Hus… oh. Sorry. Correction. Come get your 'husband'."_**

Duo snorted and laughed as Wufei gave him a questioning look but he didn't offer any more information about it. "Fei, you think you can help me drag him out of there?"

Wufei nodded and started to stand but paused for a moment and looked at Hilde. "Do you need help cleaning any of this up?"

Hilde shook her head and smiled. She had wrapped a few cookies in a napkin and slid them across the table to Duo. "No, thank you. I've got it covered. How sweet of you to offer though," she said as she gave Duo an accusatory glare. Duo grabbed the wrapped cookies and shoved them into his pocket with a sigh.

"Yeah, I know. I'm the worst. Always bailing on ya." He said as he backed toward the door. She gave him a dismissive hand gesture.

"Go on. I'll see you tonight. I hope Heero's okay. See ya, Wufei."

 **Part Four**

Duo stretched his prone body out and yawned widely. He propped his chin on his left upturned hand as he scrolled casually through the raw data the scientists had collected from their experiment. The analysis of the data had yet to be posted. He wasn't sure what he was looking at. Neuroscience wasn't his forte, but he could make out that when they had maxed out the subwoofer output Heero's brain activity seemed to alter significantly. He glanced to his left at his partner who was stretched out on his back beside him on their narrow bed. Once he and Wufei had managed to get Heero into the cabin all the Japanese man had wanted to do was brush his teeth and lie down.

The cabin lights were off and Duo had dimmed his laptop monitor to its lowest setting to keep from agitating the migraine headache that was currently afflicting his partner. He didn't know if the other pilot was awake or asleep, but he hadn't moved in some time. He drummed his fingers along the beveled edge of his laptop and continued to pick through the information on the screen.

"Could you… not." Heero said faintly. Duo blinked. It took him a moment to realize to what his partner was referring. He stopped drumming his fingers and sighed.

"Sorry, man." He whispered in apology. He looked at his lover again and saw his closed eyelids twitch and his jaw had been drawn tight. "Maybe I should go for a little while, huh?" Duo whispered before he quietly closed the laptop. As he did the room became even darker with the only light being cast from the faint green glow of the emergency exit light over the cabin door. He attempted to stand up from the bed. Heero's arm shot out and prevented from moving with a tight grasp against the top of his arm.

"Don't." Heero murmured in a barely audible voice. Duo nodded and slid the laptop under the bed before he inched his body to the side to close the gap between them. Heero had draped his right arm over his eyes. He could see the uneven rise and fall of his bare chest.

 _Man, he looks like shit._ Duo thought with a frown. He didn't know what he could do to help him. The scientists said that he was fine and just needed rest, but it was rare to see the immutable Heero Yuy looking so pitiful. "Why don't you try sleeping, ne? You've gotta be wiped out."

"I can't… sleep." Heero replied with a deep frown. "Just… talk for me for a little bit. I … need … a distraction."

Duo grinned and snorted lightly under his breath. "Tsch, what? Pretty sure this is the first time you've ever asked me NOT to shut up," he said in his quietest voice. "But if you're lookin' for an expert at one-sided conversation, well. You've come to the right place." He reached back to grab the folded blanket from the foot of the bed and pulled it over them before making himself comfortable. He folded his arms and rested his chin on his right forearm and yawned deeply before pausing for a moment to think about what to talk about. He felt Heero's bare leg slip over his own and his partner's left hand fished around beneath the blanket before it settled against Duo's back with his braid grasped tightly.

 _A braid hold? Now I know he feels like hell._ Duo thought with a frown. He waited until Heero appeared settled before rambling off the first things that popped into his head.

"Hilde made ya some cookies. I left 'em on the desk," he said in softly. "Chocolate chip. I wish she would take up culinary arts or something, she's a natural. I'm pretty sure I woulda starved to death after the Eve War if it wasn't for her. Haro's all bummed Trowa left. I think he's still out moping in the hallway or somethin'. I'm thinkin' about making him a friend but I don't know the first thing about robotics. Maybe I can get Howard in on it. Did you know he has an entire storage room just full of scraps? Apparently he and G were storing stuff in this ship for years, even before Operation Meteor. Heh. I miss sweeping. There's nothing more exciting than digging around in a pile of junk for a gem, ya know? One man's trash and all that jazz. Speakin' of jazz, Hilde said she added some new stuff to your playlist. You'll have to check it out when you're feelin' better, right? Talked to Quatre today. Had to pretend that Trowa wasn't leavin' to surprise him and all that. He said he gave that pink strip thing Catherine gave me to a chemist he knows. I guess they're gonna see if it's the same as those pills from Ibiza. Ya know, that chemical they found in those dead people. I still don't get it…" He felt Heero tug gently at his braid as if to ask him to change the subject.

"Yeah, I don't wanna think about it either. Lemme see… what else? Um…uh... oh! We were talkin' about when we were kids. Me and Hilde. I gotta help her figure out what to do with her assets on L2. I signed all of the property over to her when I left. I guess she's being suspected of being an accessory to us now that they saw you guys escape. She told me about that. And… uh… I saw the Virgo today. That CPD training one you guys escaped in…" his voice tapered off.

Earlier that morning Howard and Wufei had been moving the battered mobile suit from the Zan to the main hangar on the Lennon. It was the first time he had seen it. The damage had been extensive, and he knew that they were lucky to have escaped him alive. He swallowed back the threatening chokehold of guilt and shook his head slowly. "Thanks for getting her out of there. And from keepin' her away from me… ya know. While I was…"

"Let it go." Heero whispered into the darkness. Duo frowned and sighed.

"Yeah, I know. I'm trying." He felt the cool skin of Heero's leg slide again against the back of his own before it rested across the back of his knee.

"It was a lot easier when I was a kid. Letting things go. I could distract myself, pretend that I was something else to make things make more sense. I dunno. I'm okay, though. Really. I just felt kinda bad about it, is all. Anyway, you're right. I gotta let it go. I will. So yeah, about L2. I guess the cops seized all of her stuff. I was gonna shoot Quatre an e-mail and ask him what he thinks we can do. Maybe he can direct me to a good lawyer or something. Like… should she just pretend that she died and start over with a new identity? Or does she have legal grounds to fight it? I think she should pretend that you kidnapped her or something. I dunno. I gotta help her work that out. I still need to ask her if she wants to stay here on the ship. Just because I committed myself to this doesn't mean she needs to. She can start over anywhere. I'll help her. Money's no object. Hell, I've got more money than I know what to do with. Anywhere she wants. Any colony, Earth, hell if she wants to go work on Mars that would be fine, too."

Duo yawned and buried his face against his arm. "I stopped directing money to the L2 charity organization I was supporting. They were supposed to be using the money to maintain the memorial, but clearly that wasn't happening anymore. I still can't believe they tore it down without even notifying me. They were takin' my money and using it for what? I asked, and they couldn't tell me. The only thing I didn't stop was the flow to the children's organizations and the adoption charities. Watch, just my luck they'll be corrupt too. That place is so fucked right now. Man… " He mumbled in a muffled voice against his bare forearm. "I would give anything to turn that place around. It just seems the more I try, the more spectacular the failure is. I guess some of those things are just beyond help."

He lifted his head, yawned and saw that Heero's arm had slid away from his eyes to rest over his head. His partner's lips were parted slightly and his face appeared slack and completely relaxed. He smirked at the sight of his lover finally at peace and asleep. He buried his face against his arms and drifted off to join him.

* * *

/AN: Sorry for the increased time lapses between chapters. I promise I'm not writing anything else! LOL I had a cold and I actually wrote this chapter three times, deleted chunks, whined and cried and finally managed to finish it to my satisfaction. XD I'm a boogery mess. It's not pretty over here. Sticky keys. Lots of pathetic moping. *passes out*/


	47. Chapter 47

**Part One**

 _He couldn't let them see him cry. The last time tears had wet his eyes he had to be retrained. He didn't want that again. It hurt and he always felt weird afterwards._

 _Beta sniffled and turned his back to the surveillance camera in the corner of his room to hide his face. He wiped his eyes quickly with his fingers before straightening his back. He sniffed softly and took a deep breath before turning around to continue his tactical training. He sat down on a plain metal chair and began running through his daily training scenarios on the console in the center of his room. There was little else in his windowless living space aside from a single twin sized bed and the computer. The black lens of the surveillance camera swiveled and refocused on his new position._

 _His small fingers glided across the widely spaced keys with habile ease as he input his answers to the scenarios that flashed rapidly in front of him._

 _He hadn't meant to cry. He didn't know what had brought it on. That morning he had failed every battle simulation he was given. The instructors had chastised him, and Dr. J had told him that he was disappointed in his progress._

 _It was the old man's words that hurt him the most. He didn't care what everyone else thought or felt about him. He knew that he could have done better. He was just having a bad day. It was the old doctor's opinion of him that meant the most. He had let him down._

 _The very thought brought the burning sensation to his eyes once again. He cleared his throat and squinted hard at the monitor in an attempt to focus on the task at hand. His fingers clumsily struck the keys and input the wrong answer. The screen blinked and the font turned red. He grit his teeth and tried again. Once again everything on the screen turned red. The computer beeped loudly to indicate his mistake._

 _He tried again and received the same result._

 _"No," he whispered. He tried to reread the prompt, but his vision slipped out of focus. He felt his breathing quicken as he frantically guessed another answer. The screen flashed red. An involuntary sob escaped his throat. He saw the camera rotate and the heard the whir of the lens as it focused on him. He bit his lip hard and felt his eyes fill with tears. The distinctive sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the hallway. He knew what it meant. He closed his eyes and tensed as the door open and two men in lab coats stepped inside, followed by Dr. J, who walked in with his hands in his pockets. The lead scientist's normally cheerful expression had been replaced by a frown._

 _Beta didn't have to be told what to do. He opened his eyes and stood up before he obediently walked to the door. The old doctor put his cold claw-like hand on his shoulder and led him out and into the hallway._

 _"This is the fourth time this month. This one just can't keep his focus," one of the assistants mumbled as he fell into step behind them. Dr. J shook his head as he led Beta gently by the shoulder to the reprogramming suite._

 _"It's normal to have setbacks," the robotic man explained kindly, despite the dark expression on his face. "He's only human."_

A hard, metal pincer grasped his shoulder and roused him from his sleep. Heero's eyes opened to see the smiling face of the now much grayer and age-worn doctor hovering over him. He became aware of the soothing melody of a jazz saxophone lapping against his ears. He reached up to pull the headphones off of his head.

"All done. We've got six hours of calibrated feed into you. I think that should be enough. We can always loop it if you encounter a battle longer than that, right?" The neuroscientist said with a grin as Heero sat up from the examination table.

"Yeah," Heero replied faintly as he let his brain absorb his surroundings. He had fallen asleep in the medical wing for yet another experiment. This time, however, the trial had been less intrusive. The scientists had wanted him to listen various tones and sounds in an attempt to test a system they were developing that would hopefully combat the subliminal weapon they had tested on him four days before.

Heero pulled the two large, sticky round probes from his temples and stood up from the table. He glanced up at the digital clock over the door. What had felt like only an hour had indeed been six. He frowned and rubbed the back of his neck as he strode toward the door. He felt like he had slept the day away, and he still had a long laundry list of things he had yet to complete.

"Your friend will need to come in tomorrow and have his assessment. Tell him to bring some of his music with him." Jay called after him as he made his way to the door.

"Husband," Heero corrected him casually as he walked out into the hallway. He looked down the hall in both directions before he decided to start his mental task list from the top and check on Relena in the Honeymoon Suite. Upon entering he found the digital checklist for Relena's status on the workbench in the back of the room. He activated it and saw that all of the data input slots had been filled in for that day. He also spotted an empty cranberry juice pouch and a discarded bag of potato chips on the corner of the table. He sighed and grabbed the trash in one hand, tossed it in the sealed wastebin in the wall and walked over to check on Relena's frostbite. It appeared that someone had applied fresh, thick coats of ointment to all of her wounds.

Heero felt the corner of his mouth perk as he realized that his partner had been there. Nobody else left smudges on glass like Duo Maxwell. He used his uniform sleeve to wipe a few away a from over Relena's face before he left the Honeymoon Suite to find his wayward partner.

He found him in the mobile suit docking hangar at the rear of the Lennon. As he entered the chilled hangar he pulled the zipper higher up the neck of his Ouroboros space suit and reached into his pocket to fish out his gloves. As he tugged them on over his fingers he heard a sharp, shrill call from the ground below.

"DEMO! DEMO!"

"NO! NO! KILL! KILL!"

"Ehhhhh? Come on, I made it for you! Ya can't kill it!"

Heero looked over the side of the catwalk and saw his partner standing on the hangar floor with his hands on his hips. One of his booted feet had pinned the orange Haro to the floor. In front of them a purple-blue colored Haro unit was standing on its two small feet. It wobbled clumsily toward them with tiny, uneven baby steps.

"FRIEND! FRIEND!" The violet ball said in a voice similar to the Haro's. The orange Haro swiveled angrily beneath Duo's boot.

"DIE! DIE!" The orange Haro blared. "OMAE O KOROSU!"

"Seriously?!" Duo exclaimed. Heero saw him throw his hands up in defeat. "How can you hate that guy? Look at how cute he is! I thought you said you were lonely? Unbelievable!"

Heero shook his head and sighed. One Haro unit was bad enough. As he descended the nearby catwalk steps he saw Howard standing a few yards off in a space suit. The older man had a wrench in one hand, and a grease gun in the other. He was cackling loudly as he watched the chaos from a safe distance away.

"TROWA! TROWA!" Haro whined. The new unit stopped a foot away from the orange Haro and waggled its earflaps in greeting. The irate round robot's cable arm shot out from beneath its earflap and shot it's hand at the purple ball to slap it. The violet Haro unit fell over at the blow and wailed.

As Heero approached he saw Duo punt the orange Haro across the hangar before dropping to his knees to assist the fallen violet robot.

"Just what we need. More Haros," Heero said as he approached him from behind. Duo jumped to his feet and turned around with the violet Haro clutched tightly in his hands.

"Oi, Heero! I was wondering when you were gonna get up," Duo said cheerfully. Heero looked down as the new robot flapped its ears at him.

"HEERO. HEERO." The violet Haro chirped calmly. Heero lifted an eyebrow at its greeting.

"This is Demo. I made it with another old unit Howard had lying around. It's crazy, this thing still had its operating system and memory intact. All I had to upload was our mech stats. Did you know they used to use these things to maintenance mobile suits? Anyway…" Duo explained as he shoved the purple ball into Heero's arms. "Here."

Heero reluctantly took the offered robot and stared down at it. It swiveled and turned it's goofy, close-set eyes to study him. Heero smelled the hot, seared metal scent of its recent violet galvanization. It was clear that Duo had used spare coloration from Lucifer's repair supply to customize it.

"I don't need one," Heero replied before he attempted to hand it back to his partner. He heard Duo scoff in reply as he pressed it firmly back against his chest.

"Sure ya do. I programmed and trained it today to help ya with Relena. It can take all the stats, make any repairs to the cryosystem and alert ya to any problems." His friend replied as he shoved Demo back and into Heero's chest. "It did it today without a hitch, huh Demo?"

"DEMO! DEMO!" The new Haro unit replied.

The argument was interrupted by the shriek of the deployment sirens. The fixed lights near the exit hatches and ceilings all flashed red as Wufei's voice crackled over the loudspeakers.

"Cobra Commander and Black Alpha, report to Zhanshi for immediate departure. No mobile suit activation authorized at this time." Wufei prompted. Duo grinned and pat Heero firmly on the shoulder before he broke into a run for the catwalk.

"Howard, can you babysit for me? Make sure Haro plays nice!" His partner called over his shoulder as he hopped eagerly up the steps two at a time. Heero set Demo on the ground before jogging in pursuit of his partner for the Zan.

 **Part Two**

Duo's body became weightless as he crossed over the threshold between the Lennon and the Zhanshi. He planted a foot against the door frame and kicked off to glide down the narrow passage to the Zan's bridge. As he entered he spotted Wufei seated at the upper control seat with his hands on the helm controls.

"Yuy on board yet?" Wufei asked without looking up. Duo felt his partner's hand press into the small of his back as he floated past him and through the doorway.

"Details," Heero announced his presence with his terse request as he floated through the bridge and landed lightly in the bottom half of the dual-control setup. Duo blinked as it occurred to him that Heero got the better spot on the bridge, pouted and sulked over to the communications control seat against the wall to their right. He heard the cooling systems for the Zan's fusion reactors hummed louder as the ship reached its full activation.

"The Lunar Base has been experiencing protests from the organizations that control the mining operations. The workers have been staging massive protests for a couple of months. This morning one of their protests got out of hand at the Lunar Mall, and a few civilians got hurt. The ESUN and Preventer were called in to assist local authorities. All sides are involved in the standoff. The violent fringe mining workers have stolen a handful of cargo ships and are holding civilian passengers hostage. This isn't a full activation for Ouroboros. We are going to observe and provide assistance to Preventer as needed." Wufei explained as he deftly piloted the stealth ship away from the Lennon and the asteroid field to set it en route to the Lunar Base.

Duo scowled and huffed. "So why be there at all if we aren't allowed to reveal ourselves and openly assist? Preventer will fire on us if we do decide to show our faces, anyway."

"We need to keep an eye on all activities that involve organizations within the Earth-Sphere," Wufei explained from his upper seat. "And we have a lot of redeeming to do on our part. It couldn't hurt our reputation if we involved ourselves in something other than mass neutralization. We can't take your Gundams out until you both are outfitted with something that can protect you from that broadcast you experienced. In the meantime this is the kind of work you are authorized to perform."

Duo drummed his fingers against his control panel to alleviate some of his frustration. He knew Wufei was right, and he felt a slight twinge of guilt. He knew that a lot of the bad reputation Ouroboros suffered from came as a direct result from his attack on the group in Africa. He sighed loudly and snapped on the buckle that held his body from floating out of his seat.

"So if we gotta stay hidden, how is that gonna help our reputation, huh? They're not gonna know that we're there." He asked.

"We will reveal ourselves if Preventer loses control. If they handle it without us, we can write up our observations and send the report to Preventer to show them that we activated as an assist and prove that we were there with no negative repercussions. They can interpret that information however they want. Honestly, Maxwell, would you rather stay on the ship and grease mobile suit parts?" The Chinese man asked. His voice was tinted with aggravation at Duo's constant questioning.

"Ooh, yay! An Ouroboros field trip. And look, we're all wearin' matching outfits. How quaint," He taunted bitterly. His companions appeared to be ignoring him. He frowned and poked around at the communications controls.

"How is that system progressing anyway, Yuy?" The Chinese pilot asked as he set up the ship's autopilot and leaned back to relax in his seat. Duo saw Heero's fingers glide over his control panel as he set up his customizations for the controls.

"They hypothesize that by feeding specific sounds at a matching frequency as the enemy broadcast they will be able to cancel the effect. Professor G is developing a modified immersion helmet that will be able to feed that information into the pilot along with the Wing-One input. It will need some testing. Jay will customize each feed to the specific pilot. Speaking of which, when we return to Lennon you need to forward your music collection to them, Duo." Heero said flatly without looking up.

"My music? So what're ya saying? They're gonna make a playlist for me like you did when I was havin' trouble connecting to ZERO?" Duo asked, surprised that the system could be that simple.

"Similar, but not exactly. When I was being tested against the enemy broadcast I felt as if the vibrations from the bass tones themselves were manipulating my cells. I am not sure how it works, and the scientists still haven't figured it out. I felt … limp, almost. Pliable. As if the vibrations had turned me into clay." His partner explained. Duo noticed that he had stopped typing on the control panel and his jaw had tightened as if he were deep in thought.

"So it turned you into a golem*?" Duo asked with a half-smile.

"It felt that way," his lover murmured down into the monitor directly in front of him.

"Interesting," Wufei said from his seat. He glanced down at a monitor to his right. "ETA will be almost an hour. Our momentum will be a little slower due to our full cloak status."

"Well if it's gonna be a while," Duo casually dragged a card game onto his screen. With a flick of his finger he forced the game to open on both Heero and Wufei's monitors. "Who's down for some Nertz**? Best two out of three?"

Heero sighed and nodded his consent while Wufei smiled and tossed the first digital card.

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

* **Golem:** "In Jewish folklore, a **golem** (/ˈɡoʊləm/ **_goh_** _-ləm_ ; Hebrew: גולם) is an animated anthropomorphic being that is magically created entirely from inanimate matter (specifically clay or mud). The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material in Psalms and medieval writing. The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late-16th-century rabbi of Prague. There are many tales differing on how the golem was brought to life and afterward controlled." - Wikipedia

** " **Nertz** is a fast-paced, real-time, multiplayer card game involving multiple decks of playing cards. It is often described as a combination of the card games Speed and Solitaire." - Wikipedia

* * *

 **Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (TV Series) Episode 05: "Relena's Secret"**

Dr J: "Since Heero was very young, we've taught him a wide range of battle strategies. We brought him up as a professional assassin."  
Relena: "Why would you do such a thing?"  
Dr. J: "Don't you see? For the peace of the colonies, of course."  
Relena: "The peace? How in the world could killing someone possibly lead us to peace!"  
Dr. J: "It leads directly to peace! Wars are started by people and they end with people. Heero is ordered to attack only the dangerous, evil people responsible for starting wars."  
Relena: "But there must be more peaceful solutions!"

Dr. J: "Not at all. It's because you had the same look in your eyes as Heero did. That genuine expression. _Heero is actually a kind-hearted young boy. But Heero is very dedicated to his mission. Stay away from him if you value your life_."


	48. Chapter 48

**Part One**

"How many ships is that?" Duo's voice asked from over his shoulder. Heero glanced up at him and saw that his partner had left his post at the communication controls to look over his shoulder at the external camera feed he was studying. The former Deathscythe pilot's hand had grasped his shoulder to brace himself in the zero gravity. He began to slip weightlessly closer as he peered intently at the image on the monitor.

"Four," he answered him. "Class B mining freighters."

"The hostage distribution is uneven," Wufei added from his raised seat behind them. "The latest report is that there are around sixty in total, more than a third of which are on the ship tagged 'Kanan'."

"So what are they demanding for the release of the hostages?" Duo asked.

"Supposedly just better living conditions, and of course immunity from the charges that would be filed against them after this incident. According to recent news articles the miners have been living in squalid, sub-par living conditions on the moon for some time. They had filed continuous complaints in the past about the contractors refusing to improve the conditions. Some of the businesses even docked their pay, or rerouted pay that would have gone to their families, to fund the 'improvements'. It sounds like they have had legitimate complaints," Wufei reported casually. Duo scowled.

"Yeah, but why take hostages? That's so dumb. Now they're fuckin' criminals. Nobody's gonna take 'em seriously!" The American exclaimed, his frustration with the predicament apparent.

"Often drastic measures are needed to make one's voice heard," Heero murmured. "It isn't any worse than what we did in the name of the colonies."

"Man, you're so hot when you talk Operation Meteor to me," his partner whispered into his ear playfully before he pulled away and laughed. "Okay, so maybe they're takin' drastic measures. What are we supposed to do now?"

"We wait it out," Wufei replied coolly. Heero felt his partner's gloved fingers tighten against his shoulder. It was evidently not the answer he wanted to hear. Duo straightened and released his grip on his shoulder to face Wufei. Heero looked up at him and waited quietly for his partner to present his argument.

"How long have they been out there with those hostages?" Duo asked.

"Almost seventeen hours." The Chinese pilot replied.

"Tsch. Lemme guess, women and children are on those ships?" The American deduced. There was no reply from Wufei. "You sayin' we gotta sit here while those people keep sufferin' like that? What about Preventer? What are they doing? I'll tell you what, nothing. Spineless. Probably have some fuckin' rule against it, right? Oh, wait! They do. Something about 'don't interfere directly with local police negotiations'."

"Article twenty, subparagraph E." Heero supplied him.

"Yeah! Good 'ol article twenty. Heh. Remember the last time we broke that article, Heero? C'mon, Fei. You know as well as I do that this has gotta stop. I know you. You don't wanna just sit here and listen to them fuck up this negotiation, either. Send us. Let us at least try to talk some sense into 'em. We're trained for this. It isn't like we've never done a hostage negotiation before." Duo presented his points with a grin and his arms crossed confidently over his uniformed chest. Heero heard Wufei's loud and irritated sigh.

"I can direct a concentration of jammer particles out to the rear of the 'Kanan'. You'll need to give me time to get the Zan closer for the transfer. If a single hostage loses a life, Duo-"

"I promise. Not a hair on a head will be harmed. Ya gotta trust us. We can do this. Besides, Heero just loves jumping from one ship to another through the vacuum of space, don'cha buddy*?" Heero flinched as his partner roughly ruffled the hair on the top of his head.

 **Part Two**

Duo felt the old familiar throbbing burn of adrenaline as it coursed through his veins. He peered out of the Zan's open hatch and into the dizzying, gaping maw of open space. The freighter they intended on infiltrating appeared much farther away than it had appeared on the monitor. He gulped and poked his helmeted head out through the opening and attempted to calculate his jump. His MMU** would be able to redirect him if he went off course. He saw Heero lean out beside him to inspect the distance.

"Easy," Heero's voice buzzed confidently over the speaker within his helmet. He could see his lover's aqua eye glisten within the through his tinted visor.

"The particles are now concentrated. You have ten minutes before I have to pull away. Good luck," Wufei informed them over the connection from the bridge.

Duo felt his partner's shoulder nudge his own as both of their bulky, suited bodies filled the opening.

" 'And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me.' "^ Duo said cheerfully. He didn't know why but the old saying had popped into his head and demanded vocalization. He gave his companion a playful salute and tossed himself out of the stationary Zan in the direction of the target freighter.

Maneuvering with the MMU was no problem considering both ships were holding still. As he floated through the invisible current of jammer particles he could see the image of the target ship warp and bend as the particles reflected distorted the image. Unlike the Zan, which was fully cloaked, he and his partner were visible to the naked eye. However he assumed that the bad guys were busy with their hostages and wouldn't suspect that two free-floating astronauts were sneaking up on them from behind.

With Heero on his tail they made it to their target without incident. They would have to break through the hull of the ship and through the engine room. Duo had studied the schematics of this Raeffella AR-K 82 model and knew the exact location of a maintenance hatch that would work. The freighter had been built in spacedock, so its maintenance doors had sealed catch chambers that would regulate the pressure as they entered. Getting in wouldn't be a problem.

Once they had opened the hatch and piled clumsily inside the antechamber the pressure regulated and the small, cramped dusty room filled with breathable atmosphere. Duo twisted and tugged his helmet off and let it float into the air over his head. His nose had begun to itch ever since his jump and it was driving him crazy. He scrunched his face a few times and tried to touch the tip of his nose with his thick, stiff gloved hand but his arm wouldn't flex far enough for him to reach it. Heero's helmet came off with a hiss. His partner grabbed the hard lip around the neck of Duo's spacesuit to yank him closer by it and before he could process what was happening the fronts of their suits crushed together so that their faces met. His itch was abruptly relieved by a rough and purposeful Eskimo kiss. (^)

"Did I get it?" His adorably serious partner asked in a hushed voice. Duo grinned from ear to ear.

"Yeah, but now my lips are startin' to itch, too." He whispered. Heero's two-tone eyes narrowed and he felt a hard shove against his space suit as his partner pushed him away. He bit back a laugh as his back knocked softly into the wall. He reached out and braced himself against a thick metal tube before he set out on the arduous task of taking his MMU and spacesuit off. The struggle required teamwork but eventually they both managed to remove and stow away their heavy spacesuits and MMU systems.

 _Not that we'll have time to put this crap back on if the shit hits the fan,_ Duo thought with a sigh. He shivered against the piercing cold within the antechamber. Despite his thick thermal lining beneath his Ouroboros suit he was still freezing. He watched as the moisture from his breath immediately froze against the surface of the metal door that led to the engine room. He glanced over his shoulder at Heero, who was suspended in the air behind him with his fixed, phlegmatic "mission mode" face. Duo had forgotten how much he loved that face.

 _'Ready?'_ He signed with a hand before he drew his pistol. Duo knew that firing it in a zero gravity environment was always complicated. He wasn't sure if the freighter had artificial gravity or not. According to its tech manual it was an option for some models, but there was no way to determine whether this ship had it or not. Not that it would make much of a difference, he and Heero had worked out a system for such scenarios. Generally one of them would brace the other in some way if push came to shove and they had to discharge their weapon on anyone. Situations like that were few and far between, but they had practiced for it regardless.^*

Heero hadn't revealed his weapon. He simply nodded and pressed his gloved hand into his back to indicate he was ready. Duo smiled, nodded and grabbed the door's corroded lever and forced it open.

 **Part Three**

The freighter was unremarkable. Heero floated close behind Duo as his partner cleared each engine room chamber on their ascent to the heart of the ship. They had no way of knowing where the hostages were being kept, but it was a safe bet to assume that the person they needed to negotiate with was located on or around the ship's bridge. The underbelly of the freighter had been abandoned and as far as Heero could tell the ship's main engines were deactivated.

Heero was well-trained in battle scenarios that involved various types of gravity. Whenever his partner stopped to survey or peer around a corner Heero automatically anchored himself to the nearest stable object, made mental calculations on how his partner's body would move if he had to fire his weapon and positioned himself against his back accordingly. Currently they had reached the main level of the ship. The temperature at this level was much warmer than the ambient temperature below deck. As they passed through a round hatch on the floor and became fully exposed at the end of the ship's main passageway Heero felt the ship's partial gravity suck at his body. It wouldn't be enough to keep the recoil from Duo's gun from throwing him backward, but it would make their partnered manipulations easier.

Duo hopped lightly against the ground in front of him and bounced unsteadily once on his toes. Heero anchored himself on the standard passageway handrail that ran the length of the hall and reached out to steady his friend by pressing his hand firmly against the top of his shoulder. Duo bounced once before he finally settled against the floor. His long braid hung for a moment in the air before it dropped into its usual place against his back.

The Lucifer pilot gestured that the hall was clear. Heero couldn't see any surveillance cameras anywhere down its length. He nodded, pulled his own pistol from a flap against his chest where a holster had been built into his suit and fell into place behind Duo as he glided deftly down the hall and began to check the cargo bays and storage rooms. It wasn't long before they found where the hostages were being kept. Evidently the hostage takers hadn't expected infiltration. Only one armed guard had been left behind to watch the mass of civilians within the third cargo hold. The door to the hold was open and the masked individual who was assigned to guard it stood with his/her back facing them with a long rifle grasped tightly in hand. The imprisoned population consisted of shoppers who had been at the Lunar Mall during the altercation between the Lunar Police Department and the protesters. Heero could hear a young child crying in chorus with its mother hushing and attempting to soothe it. Otherwise the sullen prisoners were silent.

Heero reached into a zippered pocket to retrieve a pair of double-loop zip cuffs. He tapped Duo on the shoulder and waited. His partner inched around the corner, kicked off of the floor and bounded forward at a startling speed. Within moments the pistol-whipped guard was sprawled out on the floor. The rifle had skid across the room toward the hostages. Heero frowned as an older man in a business suit scrambled from the huddled mass to grab it. Duo had regained his footing and was standing over his unconscious victim with his pistol raised in a tactical hold. He had aimed it at the man who now possessed the fallen rifle. Heero knelt down and quickly cuffed the fallen, prone guard before slowly straightening his body to a stand.

"If you're gonna take that rifle, fine." Duo challenged the man. He lifted his pistol to point it at the ceiling and held his hands up over his head as if in surrender. "I came to get ya out of here. If you wanna kill me then go ahead, but you'll just end up stayin' here longer."

The older man hesitated for a moment before he pointed the rifle's barrel at the floor. Duo nodded and took a step backward. He poked the prone, knocked out guard with the toe of his boot. "You think you can watch this one while I take care of the rest?"

The older man nodded mutely. Heero backed out of the door and waited for Duo to join him. He didn't question his decision to allow the hostage to keep the rifle.

They made their way down the passageway and to the bridge. As they grew closer he could hear mixed voices overlapping one another. Distorted, crackled tones from a communication link mixed with the clear voice of someone on the bridge. Duo had paused a few feet away from the unguarded entrance to look over his shoulder at him. Heero nodded and took a deep breath. He knew that Duo was going to try to talk it out with them. His partner handed him his pistol, raised his hands in the air with his palms exposed and stepped in through the open doorway and onto the bridge.

"Hey-hey! Sorry I'm late!"

He could hear the sound of guns being drawn and pointed at his companion. Confused and surprised shouts filled the bridge. He backed away and slipped around the corner, closed his eyes and waited for Duo to signal him.

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

* (GW EW: Heero meeting Wing Zero Custom in space.)

** Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) AKA thruster pack.

^ Isaiah 6:8 "And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me." -American Standard Version

(^) Eskimo Kiss: act of pressing the tip of one's nose against another's. It is loosely based on a traditional Inuit greeting called a kunik.

^* "Newton's third law dictates that the force exerted on the bullet will impart an equal and opposite force on the gun, and, because you're holding the gun, you. With very few intergalactic atoms against which to brace yourself, you'll start moving backward (not that you'd have any way of knowing). If the bullet leaves the gun barrel at 1,000 meters per second, you — because you're much more massive than it is — will head the other way at only a few centimeters per second." - .


	49. Chapter 49

**Part One**

It had been only a handful of minutes since Duo had walked onto the bridge of the freighter ship to confront the group of protester-turned-kidnapper miners alone. Heero wasn't happy about letting him go in there without him, but it had been at his partner's insistence that he wait outside. The plan was to approach the group as passively as possible. Duo had insisted that the two of them walking in could come off as intimidating, and said that Heero's 'resting bitch face' was off-putting to some. He had also pointed out that someone needed to remain armed and that they wouldn't be able to negotiate effectively while 'packing heat'.

Heero kept his eyes closed and tried to envision what his partner was seeing. He could hear his lover's quick, confident voice carry through the doorway.

"You're gonna want to tie me up, right? I get it. I'm not gonna fight ya. You don't have to be afraid of me. Here, lemme help you." Duo was more than likely grinning and holding his arms out to allow them to be bound. Heero shook his head and gripped the stocks of both pistols tightly in his black gloved hands. The thought of someone else touching his lover, especially to bind him, forced every muscle in his body to tense with protective irritation.

"How did you get on this ship?" A hoarse voice questioned his partner forcefully in a heavy Mediterranean accent.

"Hey, if we're gonna talk, you think I can _sit down_?" Duo asked casually in his default cheerful voice. "It was a lot of hard work gettin' onto this ship ya know."

His companion's statement immediately registered in Heero's mind. He recognized the 'sit down' from the code* Duo had forced him to learn during their time as partners in Preventer. He was telling Heero to 'stand down and remain on standby.' He sighed and let himself relax at the supplied information. He now knew that Duo felt like he wasn't in any immediate danger.

Heero could hear the shuffling of footsteps and the harsh, grating sound of a metal chair being dragged across the floor.

"Thanks. Whew. Man, _I'm starving_. You guys got any food around here?" His partner supplied. Heero calculated his message. 'Man, I'm' was five letters. 'Starving' was one of Duo's code words to let him know how many people were in the room. He had given Heero a long list to memorize, but it was easy to remember the number. All he had to do was count the letters. 'Starving' was eight letters, plus the five equaled thirteen. There were thirteen enemy targets in the room with him.

Heero leaned heavily against the wall and tried to visualize the layout of the bridge. He had studied the schematics of the ship with Duo before they had left. He could recall the wiring diagrams. It had appeared to be a typical freighter. He had been aboard plenty in his lifetime and could envision the standard layout. There would be a raised platform in the center of three control stations that wrapped in a semicircle around the front. The viewer screen would be stretched along the leftmost wall directly across from the helm controls. The chair they had procured for his partner was a mystery to him. The control stations and raised helm platform would have fixed seats. He imagined that the stations were all manned, but then decided against any activity at those stations. While they were below deck the propulsion engines had been deactivated. This ship had no intentions of going anywhere.

Heero considered that for a moment. If he were to take hostages he would have a way to escape with them in the event that the police or whatever agency was against him decided to take aggressive action and try to force their way onto the ship. Perhaps they had no intention of running at all. Did that mean that they were going to kill all of the hostages, and possibly themselves? It seemed too drastic for a group that had never intended on stealing people away from the Lunar Mall in the first place. However, if they were indeed just protesters who accidentally escalated to kidnappers then why were they armed?

He frowned as his mind began streaming different extreme scenarios. It was times like these that he wished he had access to ZERO.

"Enough games. Who the hell are you, and how did you get onto this ship?" A smooth, bellowing voice filled the room against his back. He imagined Duo grinning up at a person built like a tower. His mind automatically presented him with the image of Quatre's Maganac friend Rashid.

"The name's Duo Maxwell. I'm an agent with Ouroboros. You've probably never heard of us. It's kind of a new thing. Anyway, I snuck onto your ship through the hull's maintenance hatch to come talk to you guys." Duo explained himself as casually as someone discussing the weather.

"Ouroboros? With the ESUN?" The accented voice snarled.

"Nah. Separate entity. Independent. Our mission is to neutralize violent conflict through passive means. Talking. Hugging. Kumbaya. High-fives. That kind of thing. Anyway, we heard about what was happening here and decided to come and talk to you. As you can see, I'm unarmed. I did, however, give your hostages a gun and knocked out your guard." His partner explained. Heero bit down hard on his own lower lip at Duo's offered that information to the enemy. He wasn't sure why the former Deathscythe pilot had felt it necessary to tell them, other than that full disclosure and honesty was often required for a successful negotiation.

Heero heard the bodies on the bridge shuffle around before his partner spoke again.

"I wouldn't go out there if I were you. I've got a sexy RoboCop posted outside the door who'll take out anyone who tries to leave. Heh. Guess it looks like the tables have turned, right?" His lover said brightly.

Heero activated. His eyes snapped open at Duo's comment and he rounded the corner and positioned himself in a tactical stance with both pistols aimed at the doorway of the bridge.

"He's bluffing," a new, gravely male voice said.

"Am I?" The American replied in a playful, cryptic voice. Heero imagined his handsome face fixed with a Cheshire grin. "He's a pretty damn good shot. Not as good as me, mind you…"

Heero made a mental note to himself that they would need to put that old argument to rest once they had some spare time.

"So if you're not with the ESUN, then what could you possibly offer us? They're gonna arrest us no matter what we do!" An exasperated female voice exclaimed.

"About that. I've got an idea, all ya gotta do is hear me out." Duo explained his new offer to them while blasting them with copious amounts of his lovable, trademark charm.

 **Part Two**

"Why are you giving me that look?" Duo asked as he involuntarily flinched beneath Heero's intense two-tone stare. He could see the hostages trickling one at a time through the cargo hold door as they made their way to the end of the hall to a docking door to board their ESUN provided transport shuttle. The hostage who had earlier taken up the rifle was directing traffic behind his partner. Heero's arms were crossed tightly over his Ouroboros uniformed chest and his jaw was pulled tight. He didn't answer him.

"I know, I know. You don't want me to go. The thing is I made a promise to those guys. How would it look if I bailed and didn't go with them? They'd think it's a trap or something. Besides, who can pilot this hunk of junk better than me, right?" Duo made his argument to his stern companion as best he could. He knew that Heero would be against splitting up, but after three hours of discussion and trust building with the miners Duo didn't want to abandon the job now. He had promised the miners that he would personally take them to the planet and allow them time to make an escape.

He was surprised that the ESUN had consented to the plan. There was still the risk that the miners could be intercepted in atmosphere or shortly after landing, but it was a wild risk that everyone on the bridge was willing to take. The ESUN and LPD seemed happy enough to have all of the hostages released peacefully. It would only be a matter of time before all of the protesters would be caught, but everyone was exhausted from the standoff and were willing to let them make a run for it.

Heero had made contact with Preventer and Director Une had promised them clemency if Ouroboros could deliver the hostages from the main freighter safely to the Lunar Base spacedock. The hope was that the remaining hostages on the other ships would be released soon after.

"That's everyone," a voice said from behind the former Wing pilot. Duo saw the gentleman hostage with the rifle approach Heero from behind. His partner turned and said something quietly to the man before he to settled his stern gaze upon him again. The man shuffled away to board the moon-bound shuttle.

"Well are ya gonna wish me luck or just keep silently berating me?" He asked his lover with a smile. Heero relented. His thick, formerly down-turned eyebrows lifted and the tension vanished from his face as he reached into the front of his uniform and drew Duo's pistol from a hidden holster. He extended his arm out to hand it to him stock-first. Duo grasped it with both hands, nodded and slipped it into the front of his own uniform spacesuit.

"Good luck. Don't do anything stupid." Heero finally replied.

"Yeah-yeah. I never do stupid things. Ugh, my lips, though. They're still itchy. Damn this dry, recycled air," Duo purred. He bounced on his toes against the partial gravity and launched himself against Heero's torso to glomp^ him. His partner grunted as their hidden pistols smashed together as he knocked into him before he casually wrapped his arms around Duo's narrow waist to hug him back.

"This is the part where you kiss me," Duo reminded him. Heero complied, passionately.

 **Part Three**

Duo licked his strawberry ice cream cone and resisted the urge to do the same to the second cone he had purchased for his partner, who was now running uncharacteristically late. He sighed loudly and shifted in his seat against the low stone wall that encircled the Lunar Mall's central fountain.

It had been years since Duo had last been to the Lunar Mall but it appeared to have changed very little. The featured brands in the storefronts had changed, but the layout was the same. He and Heero had come to the Lunar Mall many times before for work with Preventer to conduct interviews for various investigations. They had agreed to meet at the fountain, their usual rendezvous point, after they both finished their parts of the hostage situation.

Duo had piloted the Kanan with its thirteen runaway miner passengers to Earth without a hitch. The reentry had been rough and for a moment he had thought that they would to be stopped by the authorities who had been tailing them, but once they had made it to the stratosphere what few ships that had been following them backed off. He had landed the ship in a deserted area in the North China Plain just west of the Taihang Mountains, let off the fugitives and then made his return voyage to the Lunar Mining Coalition alone.

He had half expected to be arrested once he had returned to the Lunar Base. He couldn't bring himself to completely trust Director Une. She would have said anything to get those hostages released, and he and Heero were still technically wanted men by the ESUN. Stealing a Gundam, a frozen princess and annihilating massive units of mobile suits wasn't exactly an easy thing to pardon. However, he had walked out of the mining quarter and had taken the rail to the Lunar Mall with no trouble at all.

Despite how everything seemed to be going, Duo couldn't bring himself to let his guard down. He enjoyed being out in the population again, but he also couldn't wait for Wufei to come and pick them up with Zhanshi and get them back to the safety of the Lennon.

Heero was still nowhere to be seen, and both cones had become sloppy, melted messes in his hands. He huffed, juggled both ice creams into one hand and fished around in his Ouroboros uniform pocket for his phone. He checked it for new messages but found none. An hour before Heero had last reported that he was in a meeting with Une and Noin somewhere on the Lunar Base and that he would meet him at the mall shortly. Duo didn't like to be a pest, but the damn ice cream was running down his wrist and he needed to know whether to go ahead and eat them or not. As he was pounding out a new text message on his phone it buzzed in his hand and began to blare his 'The Final Countdown' ringtone. Heero's glowering face, complete with new bionic eye, illuminated the monitor as his partner's contact image appeared on screen. Duo grinned and swiped his thumb under the cranky face to answer it.

"Yo! Where the hell are you?" He asked before he lapped at his dripping cone.

 ** _"I'm on my way. I'm running behind."_**

"Clearly," Duo said with a chuckle. "How did it go?"

 ** _"Well. I have a tentative truce in the works. Preventer is eager to work with Ouroboros."_**

"Heh. I bet they are. They're probably looking really shitty with the ESUN right now since it took us barging in to fix their problem for them." Duo grumbled before tonguing the stream of melted, pink ice cream from his wrist. "Where are you?"

 ** _"I'm about to pass through the west entrance."_**

"The mall's west entrance?" Duo sought clarification. There was none. He blinked and checked the screen of the phone to see if he had lost his connection. The icon was still green and Heero's static, scowling face still illuminated its surface. He pressed it back against his ear and heard an unusual shuffling noise. "Heero? Hey… you still there?"

He heard nothing but silence, followed by the sound of a hard, plastic thunk.

Duo immediately knew that something was wrong. He dropped the ice cream to the floor and spun on his heels until he got his bearings and began to run as hard as he could in the direction of the mall's westward entrance. He continued to hold the phone to his ear as he rushed through the crowd. He shoved and dove through the shoppers in a frantic frenzy.

"Heero? HEERO?! Can ya hear me? Hey? Hello?" He shouted as he tripped and skidded down the hall. "For fuck's sake, move!" He snarled at an old lady with a poodle who shuffled at a snail's pace in front of him. He could see the west entrance sliding doors at the end of the hall. His eyes began to scan the faces he passed in the crowd for any sign of his partner or any nefarious looking suspect. He saw nothing but old retirees on a field trip from L1, the occasional contractor or mining employee, and camera-toting tourists of various ethnicities.

He couldn't catch his breath and his legs didn't want to cooperate. He felt clumsy and strangely heavy, as if his feet were filled with lead. Somehow he managed to get through the throng of slow-moving obstacles to the sliding door. Beyond the west entrance to the mall was a giant white tube-like subterranean hallway that led to various underground transportation hubs. To his right was a maglev shuttle that carried passengers to the train depot, and to his left an automated walkway that led to the spaceport. He felt his breath catch in his throat as he recognized a white, rectangular object on the ground beside the automated walkway. He shoved his phone into his pocket and darted over to the walkway, dropped to his knees and picked up Heero's phone. As he turned it over in his hands to inspect it he could see that it was still connected to his call. As he brushed his thumb across the proximity sensor at the bottom of the phone the back of the screen lit up to reveal a picture Heero had taken of him a few days before when they were doing maintenance on their mobile suits. He was wearing a pair of navy coveralls and had stopped in the middle of a circuit change to look up and flash his lover a peace sign and a goofy grin. "恋人" flashed bright white under his contact picture.

Duo stood up on trembling legs and scanned his crowded surroundings. _Where is he? He's not here. He would never leave this here._

Someone bumped into him from behind as they tried to disembark the automated walkway he was blocking. He stumbled forward, bit his lip and used a shaken finger to end Heero's call and saw Wufei's name on the recent contacts list. He dialed it, sidestepped the flow of traffic from the automated walkway and listened as it rang once before an exasperated voice filled his ear.

"I said I am coming as fast as I can!" Wufei barked across the line. "Can't you and Maxwell find something to occupy yourselves? What is the rush anyway?"

"Wufei. I... " Duo's head was spinning and he could barely form the words. "He's gone. I can't find him."

"Duo?" There was a long silence over the line. "I'm coming. Where are you?"

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

^ A glomp is an aggressive physical display of affection in which a person expressing unrestrained love, sympathy, or enthusiasm throws themselves at someone else, hugging them for a long time and potentially throwing them off-balance. (Urban dictionary)

恋人 "Koibito" - lover.

 *** Duo's Secret Code:**

"Sit Down": (Stand down, standby for further instruction)

"Man, I'm…"(5): inconsequential (20 total), underestimated (19), Wedge Antilles (18), exaggerating (17), magnificent (16), speechless (15), fantastic (14), starving (13), perfect (12), mental (11), tired (10), beat (9), hot (8). - Tells how many enemies are in the room with him.

"Thank you very little" : (Needs assistance - passive, no guns.) - Caddy Shack (AD 1980)

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner." : (Needs assistance - aggressive, weapons. ) - Dirty Dancing (AD 1987)

"Game over, man! It's game over!" : (Abort mission.) - Hudson, Aliens (AD 1986)


	50. Chapter 50

**Part One**

Heero awoke to total darkness. It was clear that someone had blindfolded him with what felt like an impermeable strip of sticky, black vinyl tape. He tried to open his eyes against it but found he could barely move his sealed eyelids. His head ached and his mouth was dry. He attempted to swallow and bit back groan as he tried to take stock of his situation.

He had been abducted. The last thing he recalled he had been on the phone with his lover. He had been distracted. Two people had walked up and were standing behind him on the automated walkway. He had been aware of them, but thought nothing of it. A needle had been plunged into the side of his neck just as he had stepped off of the walkway and the last thing he remembered he had dropped his phone and had fallen to the ground.

Now he was lying on his side against a cold, metal floor and he could smell the acrid, sour smell of lunar dust as it filled his nose and coated the inside of his mouth. His ear vibrated with the coarse, grumbling roar of an antiquated propulsion system which verified that he was on board some form of spaceship. Whatever ship it was had full gravity, the static pull was apparent against his torso and face. His hands were bound behind his back by thick, constrictive electromagnetic gauntlets and his feet were bound at the ankle by some form of rope or tether.

The usual, familiar bulge of his pistol against his chest was no longer present. Whoever had taken him had been smart enough to disarm him. He rolled his legs against the floor and felt his ankle holster had been emptied of his 9mm as well.

"Hey, did he just move?" A nearby young, male voice spoke in alarm. Heero heard something slide across the floor before a pair of heavy feet approached him.

"He couldn't have. That sedative is supposed to last for another four or five hours," a gruff, aggressive female voice replied from a distance.

"Huh. Weird," Heero heard the male voice reply from right above him. A boot was slammed hard into his chest to roll him back and onto his bound arms. He went limp and made his best attempt at playing possum despite the ripping pain his supine position on the floor forced into his shoulders. "He's not what I expected."

"What do you mean? He looks just like the picture." The female said. Heero could hear the faint clicking of buttons being depressed on a control panel.

"I mean he's just… I don't know. Just not what I expected. We've been hearing about this guy for so long, I expected him to be larger than life I guess. The great Heero Yuy, Gundam pilot. They built him up to be this amazing person, like some sort of superhero or something. He just looks like some average guy." The male voice said with a hint of disappointment. Heero heard the rustle of fabric as the man knelt closer. He considered jackknifing his body and trying to knock the guy out but decided against it. He had no idea who else was in his room, or what step two of that plan would be. He couldn't see and his movement was limited. He decided to lie low for the moment and gather as much information as he could. He forced his body to relax and breathed deeply to mimic sleep, despite the screaming pain in his arms and shoulders.

"Did you see that creepy eye? That wasn't in his pilot profile," the female added. "He's got some sort of implant. I'm curious to hear what that is about."

"I can't believe how lucky we got this time. That other guy really fucked it up in Germany. I can't believe we managed to catch them apart." Heero felt the male mystery figure grasp his shoulder to roll him forward and thankfully back onto his side before he heard him stand up and walk away.

"Yes, we don't have to try and dispose a dead body at least." The female added with a laugh. "I wonder what's with them anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, if there is something more than just work. His workup involved that guy a lot. The one with the hair."

"You think maybe they're…"

The female laughed loudly and Heero heard a clunking sound as if she had dropped something heavy to the floor. "Could be. Damn, that's always the way, right?"

"Huh? What is?"

"The best ones are always gay."

"That's not true. I'm not gay."

The female laughed again but this time she was near hysterics. He could hear her male companion sigh with disappointment.

 **Part Two**

Duo felt like he was going to crawl out of his own skin. He couldn't hold still. Every nerve in his body itched with anxiety as he waited for the Lunar Police Department representative to return with the not-so-surprisingly lost data from the Lunar Mall west entrance surveillance footage.

 _This is a waste. This is a waste of time. I need to be out there trying to find him. He could still be here. I don't trust the police. They're not going to be looking hard enough. What if a shuttle leaves without them inspecting it? They're fuck ups. Nobody is going to try to find him. I gotta do it myself._ His mind raced as he hugged himself and tapped his foot like a cracked-out jackrabbit in a failed attempt to alleviate the unrelenting pressure his panic had forced into his body.

To say he was upset was an understatement.

At first he hadn't wanted to believe it. Maybe Heero had dropped his phone and being the doofus that he was decided he could buy another one? Maybe he got distracted by something and wandered off?

 _Yeah… he may have gotten distracted…_ Duo considered for a moment. He tried to imagine something - anything - that could distract his rigid, focused lover. _Shiny new mobile suit? A schoolgirl in need of saving from falling rubble? * Fuck… no. I can't think of anything._

Despite his brain's automatic attempt at denial he knew deep down that something serious had happened. Heero would never have just up and left like that. Someone had to have taken him.

 _He could be hurt. He could be dead. He could be anywhere in this fucking galaxy about now and here I am standing in this fucking office waiting for someone to pull their damn thumb out of their ass!_ His rage was undeniable. He slammed his white-knuckled fists on the raised counter in front of him. "ANY-FUCKING-DAY NOW, PEOPLE!" he bellowed. He saw Wufei flinch beside him before he directed a stern, reprimanding scowl in his direction.

"Would you stop? Please?" Wufei grumbled testily. "If you can't behave you can go sit in the Zan."**

"Oh? You're gonna treat me like a fucking kindergartner, now? I'm done. You go ahead and figure out where that tape is. I'll be out looking for our fucking friend, Chang! You call me when you're ready to help me." Duo snarled into the Chinese man's face. He threw up his hands and stalked furiously away from the LPD front desk to make his exit. He could hear his companion hurriedly say something to the clerk as he shoved the doors open and stormed out into the subterranean tube. He didn't know where he was going, but he had to keep moving or he was going to go insane.

"Maxwell! Stop! Stop this!" Wufei's voice commanded from a short distance behind him. Duo couldn't stop himself. He knew that he was spiraling out of control but he had to vent his rage somehow. If not through venom, then through action.

"Maxwell! Stop, now! You can't go off alone! We need to stay together!" The former Shenlong pilot protested. His voice echoed throughout the massive, sparsely populated hall.

Duo stomped toward the white maglev shuttle train as it approached the terminal. He didn't know what else to do. He had no idea what had happened to Heero, but he wasn't going to sit back and wait around while his lover's life was on the line. The double doors to the train hissed open as he approached them. He ducked inside and stood with his back against the rear emergency door of the car. A couple who had been seated in front of him caught wind of his seething animosity and got up to move to the front row well away from him.

As the double doors began to slide closed Wufei's body squeezed through to board the train. He reached up to grab an overhead railing to steady himself as it began to pull quickly away from the Lunar Police Department stop platform.

Duo felt Wufei's gaze probing him. He crossed his arms tightly over his chest and turned his face away to glare holes into the car's scuffed, dusty black floor.

"You've got to calm down," his friend finally said. Duo grit his teeth and shook his head.

"I can't. You know that I can't." Duo hissed in a tight, strangled voice.

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to antagonize you, but you're not helping yourself or Heero by acting this way. You need to cooperate with the police, and most of all you need to work with me. I'm here to help you." Wufei said slowly, his tone calm and reassuring. Duo knew that he was trying to talk him down. After the time they had spent together working on X-18999 Wufei had become one of his best friends, and in that time the Chinese man had developed the uncanny ability of placating him, even when he was at his worst.

Which made him feel like hell. He felt bad for treating someone who went out of their way to be so kind to him so shitty. He couldn't help himself. He felt like a man possessed with grief. He lifted a trembling hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and could feel Wufei's presence as he drew near. Soon the other pilot was standing in front of him with his right hand pressed against the emergency door to the left of his head to stand firm as the maglev train whirred speedily beneath the moon's surface.

Duo covered his face with both hands in attempt to hold himself together and shook his head. He didn't dare look at his friend for fear he may lose what little composure he had left.

"I'm fine. I'll be fine. I just gotta keep moving. I gotta find someone, anyone, who saw something. Anything. It's Heero, he wouldn't have gone down without a fight," Duo rambled into his palms. "Someone has to have seen something weird."

"You're right," Wufei conceded quietly. Duo parted the fingers of his left hand to peek out and up at the other pilot. Wufei's face had tilted down to stare at the white embroidered dragon Ouroboros patch on the left chest of Duo's uniform. His expression was distant, as if he were deep in thought.

 _He's just as worried about all of this as I am._ Duo realized. He could feel his own automatic frown against his palms as he came to the searing conclusion that he was being selfish. Here he was acting like he was the victim, when the situation wasn't even just about him. If Heero had been taken by an enemy organization for some purpose, it could affect all of pilots. They were all in danger of being abducted, or worse killed, by whoever "His Excellency" was.

He sucked in a deep breath through his hands before he dropped them to rest at his sides and tilted his face up to meet Wufei's. The Chinese man narrowed his eyes and locked stares with him. They stood in silence and studied each other without a hint of awkwardness. Eventually Duo broke the exchange with a loud sigh and lifted a hand to rub the side of his aching head.

"I'm sorry. I'm a mess and I really need a fuckin' cigarette…" he mumbled just loud enough for Wufei to hear. The other pilot nodded slowly but never took his dark, intense eyes from his.

"It's understandable to be upset. Trust me, I know what it is to lose someone you love." His friend offered as a rare, sentimental confession. Duo frowned at the hardness of Wufei's expression. It wasn't often that the former Shenlong pilot revealed himself, and the last time they had spoken about his lost wife and colony at length had been around the holidays over two years before at the X-18999 college company Christmas party over a few shared bottles of champagne.

His anger and frustration immediately melted away as he came to accept that he had no right to mourn a loss he had no proof of. He quickly compartmentalized all of his doubts and fears and forced them into the back of his mind.

 _I've gotta focus. Focus, first. Get answers. I need answers._ He chanted to reassure himself. Finally he forced his best smile and dropped his hand from where it had rubbed the side of his head to rest on Wufei's left thickly muscled shoulder.

"Thanks Fei," was all he could think to say.

"Anytime," Wufei replied.

 **Part Three**

Heero had no way of knowing how long he had been stowed away in the unidentified spaceship, but eventually he heard the familiar groan of the engines powering down, followed by the clanking and clunking sounds of docking arms as they cradled and locked onto the vessel. He continued his charade of unconsciousness as bodies began coming and going through the room. Finally two pairs of hands grabbed him by his arms to lift him from the floor. He was dragged through doorways and out into a bitterly cold spaceway. There was hardly any conversation between his captors at this point, aside from vague instructions and polite exchanges with faceless passersby. He didn't recognize any of the voices, only the sounds of the passing electric vehicles. There was no way for him to determine where they had taken him and he could only assume that it was a military run installation by the occasional pause and salute by his carriers.

It wasn't until they brought him deep within the maze of corridors and hallways that he heard something that he fully recognized. It was a faint, rushing sound similar to that of an ocean wave on Earth sliding over the sand. The sound was accompanied by the distinct thunk and hiss of oscillating pneumatic control cylinders. It was a sound that had been a major part of the soundtrack of his formative years. The cacophony of mobile suit battle simulation.

He resisted the urge to frown and continued to allow his head to loll loosely as he was tugged and pulled this way and that by his unsuspecting captors. The cuffs on his wrists had rubbed his pulse points raw and his fingers felt numb and thick from lack of circulation. His chest muscles were strained from being forcefully expanded for hours and his lips were so dry that the corners of his mouth had cracked, bled and cracked again over the hours of his captivity.

Despite his situation he couldn't stop thinking about Duo. His capture had come as he was on his way to reunite with his companion after a successful mission, and he knew that the former Deathscythe pilot would be looking for him. Part of him was glad that they hadn't been together. From what he could surmise from the bits and pieces of conversation from the people who had detained him they had no intention of taking Duo with them. He knew that if his partner had been with him during their most recent attack they would have not have hesitated to kill him.

The thought forced his taped eyes to flutter helplessly against his adhesive blindfold. He tried to imagine what his life would be like without the other pilot now that their lives had become so intertwined. Could he bring himself to continue being who he was now without him? What would be the point of staying in this time if he were doomed to be alone again?

He was yanked into a room and roughly dropped onto what felt like a hard cot. He heard whispering from behind him before a series of unfamiliar voices jumped from the roiling din that surrounded him.

"Is that him?"  
"I can't believe they found him."  
"Soris will be pleased."  
"Wow. That's Heero Yuy?"  
"Doesn't seem so great, does he?"  
"Not if he got caught."  
"Haha, you're horrible."  
"I'm horrible."

"Alright, you plebs! Back to work!" A raspy, low authoritative female voice broke through the chaos and forced the bodies that had surrounded him to flee. He heard the woman sigh loudly before grabbing his face by the chin to turn his head and inspect him. "He's awake."

"Captain, I'm certain he is asleep, Sir." His male captor said sharply in response. He heard the leader hiss with irritation before she grabbed his face again and turned his head from side to side.

"Look here. Watch his eye under the tape." The woman growled as she jerked his head again. He felt his eyelids involuntarily twitch^ and then scowled as he was discovered. In a desperate, hopeless attempt he forced himself up from his side to an upright position and tossed himself hard in the direction he estimated the woman to be in an attempt to headbutt her. He managed to make contact with some part of her face with his forehead before he was subdued by a firm punch in the sternum. He folded in half and fell hard against the floor, temporarily breathless.

"Hahaha! And here you were underestimating this one. Fools." The Captain said as she grew closer. Heero was just about to try to sweep her legs with his bound ankles and roll away but decided against it. There was no real hope of escape, he was just letting out frustration and anger at this point. He fell still in an attempt to reserve his energy for a time when the odds would be in his favor.

The Captain removed his blindfold with a sharp, ripping yank. With it went some of his eyelashes and hairs from his eyebrow. He squinted through the burning of his eyelids and the bright LED overhead lights at the silhouetted figure crouched in front of him. His bionic eye attempted to compensate for his natural eye's lack of focus, and soon he made out the grinning cat-like face of a handsome blond woman who appeared to be well in her forties. She grabbed the hair at the back of his head and turned his face up roughly up for inspection.

"So this is the kid who replaced me, huh? Heero Yuy. Or should I say WING-BETA?" She growled bitterly before she peered into his eyes. A vicious smile curled her thin mouth. "Welcome home."

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

* I mean... he could have? Lunar Base has a lot of wily, out of control moon rocks.  
And the Gundam universe has a never ending supply of adorable blond girls to save.

** Hot, authoritative daddy Wufei knows best.

^ "The **corneal reflex** , also known as the **blink reflex** , is an involuntary blinking of the **eyelids** elicited by stimulation of the cornea (such as by touching or by a foreign body), though could result from any peripheral stimulus" - Wikipedia


	51. Chapter 51

**Part One**

Duo's frustrated sighs and grumbles filled the recreation room as he began his third hour of scouring video footage for any sign of his lover.

He knew that he would be able to recognize Heero anywhere. He had spent years appreciating his compact, angular frame. His partner's posture was typically rigid and upright, and his body moved without wasteful exertion. His relaxed posture always seemed controlled and every pose made with purpose.

He had witnessed that body do amazing things: jump and land from great heights with little more than a scrape, heal at amazing speeds, bend metal, run for hours before tiring, and take insane amounts of g-force with hardly any strain. He had seen his partner's body embroiled in battle, bruised, beaten, limp with unconsciousness and rigid with pleasure. He knew that out of anyone in the Earth-Sphere he would be the one who could best detect his missing lover in a crowd.

He peered down into yet another high-quality video recording from the Lunar Base surveillance system. This particular camera had been directed at the seventh gate of the Lunar spacedock and the feed timestamp corresponded to the approximate 1623 UTC time that Heero had gone missing.

Duo balanced his chin on the top of his folded arms and stared wearily into the face of his laptop monitor to observe the dull tourists milling about at the gate. He reached out to speed up the feed X5, resumed normal speed, sped up, resumed, yawned and then buried his face into his arms with a groan.

"C'mon, Heero. Where are you?" He whispered. "Gimme something to work with here."

It had been nearly twenty-four hours since Heero had vanished without a trace and they had yet to find any leads. He and Wufei had scoured every inch of the Lunar Mall and surrounding area, accosted random people who worked there, and threatened the lives of all of the officers at LPD for the missing surveillance data but received no results. The camera that would have recorded Heero's attack had been tampered with, and no data could be found from it. After filing a missing person's report with the LPD, Preventer and the ESUN they could do nothing else but return to the Lennon empty-handed. It had been the hardest, longest flight Duo had made in his life however something within him knew that Heero was no longer on the moon, and that to remain there would just be a waste of time.

 _I don't get it. How could he vanish into thin air like that,_ he thought forlornly as he forced himself to look up at the streaming images on the monitor once more. His eyes were burning and it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus with every passing moment. He paused the video and forced himself up to a full sit and rubbed his tired eyes with the palms of his hands. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept. He was exhausted, but his brain just wouldn't power down.

"HEERO, GONE?" A soft, almost pleasant neutral robotic voice spoke from his feet. He peered down at the newly created Demo and sighed.

"Yeah. He's gone," he replied faintly. "Where's Haro?"

"ANGRY, HARO. HIDING." Demo explained.

"Sorry about him. He'll come around," Duo said sadly as he rubbed the side of his neck. He felt his thin silver chain against his warm flesh. Carefully he fingered it loose from the collar of his uniform and rolled Heero's red, gundanium lock key gently between his forefinger and thumb. "He's just gotta adjust to these changes."

"DUO MAXWELL, SAD?" Demo asked flatly. Its black eyes illuminated red before fading to black again.

"Yeah." He murmured through his tight throat. "I'm real sad." 

**Part Two**

Heero stared up at the bare, white ceiling of the small, ten by ten foot room. The bright, pure white overhead lights bore relentlessly into his brilliance stunned his exhausted, unbalanced natural eye and caused wavy blue phosphenes^ to erupt across his vision. His artificial eye attempted to compensate for the disruption but the end result was a blurry image with an overcast of bright blue explosions. He closed both eyes and blocked out the penetrating light with a hand over his closed eyelids. He could still feel the tacky residue from the tape on his skin. He took a deep breath and tried to relax.

He knew where he was. When the tape had been ripped from his eyes and he had been able to take in his surroundings he immediately knew. The woman, his predecessor, spoke of being home. That only confirmed his conclusion.

He was on MO-V, the industrial resource satellite and backwater colony he had been his training center for Operation Meteor. ZERO had shown him a resource satellite, and had predicted he would destroy it, however the one in his vision looked nothing like this asteroid-based colony.

The room he was detained in wasn't the exact one he had inhabited years before, but it's layout was nearly identical. A narrow, twin-sized bed and an updated computer console were the only two pieces of furniture in the room. A black 360⁰ camera had been installed in the center of the ceiling, rather than the corner mounted models that had once surveyed his youth.

He didn't know how he should feel about being back on MO-V. A small, distant part of him felt comfortable in this setting. It had been a place that had formed many of his habits and much of his personality. He had unconsciously emulated this exact type of living arrangement. He never kept personal belongings or clutter. All he ever had needed was a bed and a computer.

It had been habit, but it also had never occurred to him that he could customize his life with possessions. He had never felt inclined to do so before, but after cohabitation with his partner in a relatively domestic setting he had found Duo's personalization fascinating and had started to consider his own wants, likes and interests. He wanted to try new things and explore himself.

He was suddenly very aware of the yellow wire ring Duo had made for him. He clenched his fist and felt its pressure increase against his left ring finger. He wanted to look at it but he didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention to it. It was the only thing that he had left to keep him connected to his life, his lover and his mission for Relena and Ouroboros.

He began to consider different reasons why this mystery organization had brought him back here and he could only assume that it had something to do with a weapon. Why else would they need him? He had heard many of his captors recite his past record, and clearly they were involved somehow in the Colony Liberation Organization to have access to such old, confidential information. They needed him for something specific, but he couldn't imagine what.

He was also confused about the woman who claimed to be his predecessor. What had disqualified her from the program? Was she out to seek vengeance against someone or something? Had she been a member of the CLO when he was deployed to the planet? Where had she been during Operation Meteor and the Eve War? Was she Luna Armonia? Who was Soris? Was "His Excellency" here on MO-V? Whatever happened to Adelle Formic of the Global Trade Organization on L2? Who did Hilde's ex boyfriend work for? How deep was L2 Colony's involvement in this entire scheme? Were these people responsible for the golem weapon that had attacked him and Duo on their return from Germany, and were they connected directly to the Eyeshine drug and the mass killing in Ibiza?

He was concerned about the subliminal confusion weapon, or whatever it was. Dr. J and Professor G had developed a modification for Wing-One to combat the effects for him, but now that he was alone and without assistance he didn't know what was going to happen to him or what he would do if they subjected him to its influence again. What if they gave him that submission drug and forced him to kill, like they had with Duo?

Heero frowned and felt his entire body tense at the thought of snuffing out waves of lives like his lover had. Like he himself had done so many times before during Operation Meteor. The thought disgusted him. He had come to want more for himself and now believed that his life had value, as opposed to his careless existence in the past when he was just a kid. He wanted to help people, mankind, his friends and Relena. He wanted peace.

He was weary of being a tool for others to rule with, and he wanted to make his own choices. He wanted to choose his own destiny.

 _What do I want?_ The thought rang through his tumultuous thoughts like a pure, sharp bell.

What did he want? He shoved the surfacing memories of his past training and missions away from the forefront of his mind and let himself entertain the idea. On most occasions he considered thoughts like these to be frivolous and a waste of time but now he could think of little else.

 ** _"Why don't you go back to school to be a surgeon? You would be really good at it."**_**

Heero heard Duo's voice murmuring softly in his thoughts as a distant memory trickled into his consciousness. His partner had uttered those words casually while Heero had tended to a gunshot wound to the back of his thigh before he went under cryostasis. He hadn't replied to his question, and up until that point he had never considered it an option for him. He had set himself on a path of service to the Colonies, Relena, Preventer, the Earth-Sphere and Ouroboros. Now that he was considering his own path, the idea didn't seem so ridiculous.

He shifted his weight against the hard cot and dropped his hand from his eyes to rest carefully on the center of his bruised chest as he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to be someone else. A surgeon. A neurosurgeon. He wondered what schooling for that would be like, and whether Duo was right about him being potentially good at it. He could help people, be innovative and feel challenged by that line of work. He had experienced so many things in his life related to that area of study already. Dr. J had always been open and informative about his own cybernetic enhancements and now Heero had firsthand experience with his own bionic replacements. Improving upon his own modifications was something he had interest in, as well as maintaining Duo's spinal implant.

He frowned at the thought of his lover's dysfunctional spine, which had been a direct result of his attack upon him. He knew that it wasn't his fault, but he still felt entirely responsible for Duo's recent suffering and trouble with it. He knew that for the rest of his life his companion was going to have to deal with the consequences of that attack, and it pained him to know that he had done it to him.

He sighed deeply and pressed his hand against the center of his aching chest in an attempt to anchor himself from losing his composure. He felt paper thin, and oddly fragile. He was tired, but sleep was impossible. He opened his eyes and peered up into the black tinted, half circle camera lense that poked out from the ceiling overhead and wondered who was looking back.

 **Part Three**

"I've already activated all of my resources for the facial scanning. If Heero is on any of the colonies, especially X-18999 and L4, I'll know." Quatre said confidently across the COM. Duo blinked heavily and tried to focus on the former Sandrock pilot's face as it blurred in and out of focus on the monitor. For a moment he wondered why the connection was so shitty, but then he realized it wasn't the COM but his own exhaustion that had warped the image.

He slumped forward and tried to focus on the fast stream of information Quatre was presenting to Wufei, who sat dutifully beside him nodding and replying tersely in reply to the blond's report. Duo was trying to keep up, but his brain was unable to process anything either of them were saying.

 _If I just close my eyes for a second… just a second…_

He opened his eyes to the COM blacked out and Wufei leaning over him. He blinked and startled at the closeness of his friend. He saw the other man's mouth moving but he couldn't make out his words. Finally he processed Wufei's hands on his upper arms and realized that he was trying to get him to stand up. He forced himself to his feet and with the gross physical movement his brain kicked into low gear.

"You should go lie down for a while. I will continue to look over the camera footage." Wufei explained slowly as he began to lead him out of the recreation room and toward the cabin wing of the ship. Duo followed without argument. He heard a faint chirp at his feet and saw that Demo was heeling beside him, with a strangely quiet Haro in tow. He smirked down at them and when he looked up he saw that they had made it to the door of his and Heero's cabin. The "Fuck Off, We're Closed" sign still hung crookedly on the wall beside the closed door.

"I'll come check on you later," Wufei said softly. Duo sighed and watched as the Chinese man looked him over once with a worried expression, hesitated and then turned to make his way back to the recreation room. Duo sighed and stepped into his cabin with his two round robots shadowing him. Upon entering the lights automatically lit to show everything exactly how he had left it. His laptop was on the foot of their bed, closed with a pale white light blinking faintly from it's side. His FLACC player and new headphones were lying on the desk along with his balled up Misfits t-shirt. He saw Heero's black sneakers against the wall beside the door, and his partner's workout clothes washed, folded and set on top of them in preparation for his next run.

The sight of those stupid, black sneakers forced a hard, violent stab against his chest. He kicked off his boots and was about to toss them in a pile beside Heero's shoes but stopped himself. He frowned and knelt down to align them neatly with his partner's against the wall before standing and staggering to their bed. He collapsed face-first into Heero's pillow and took a deep, greedy sniff of his lost partner's sharp, coppery scent.

He heard both Haro and Demo knocking into each other as they bickered before he felt the bed shake twice as the two balls hopped up onto it to join him. He felt them rolling around before settling beside where his socked feet were on propped on top of his laptop.

"DUO? DUO?" Haro finally asked. He felt it roll forward to nudge his calf.

"Hm?" He mumbled into Heero's pillow.

"ALRIGHT? ALRIGHT?" Haro inquired. He heard Demo's distinctive, musical beep accompany the question.

"Yeah," He lied. "Just… go to sleep."

"GOODNIGHT, DUO." Demo added.

 **Part Four**

Heero awoke to the sound of the harsh beeps from the keypad outside his door. He pushed himself up to a sit and waited as a figure dressed in dark, grey garrison dress with gold Lieutenant Commander insignia on her high, black collar stepped in. She was flanked by two lesser officers in space battle uniform (SBU) of a similar color and make but with less adornment. Her hair was trimmed just off of her shoulders and her dark brown eyes seemed large, reflective and morose behind her brown, straight fringed bangs. She walked into his room, stopped a few feet past the threshold and put a white gloved hand on her hip as she regarded him with a contemplative expression.

"Wing-Beta, I'm Lieutenant Commander Armonia of the New Resistance Colony Liberation Organization. I'm very sorry for your rough treatment. Please understand that we were desperate to find you. However, that is no excuse for the poor conduct of your captors and my sister, Soris. Please come with me so that we may hydrate, feed you, treat your wounds and provide you with clean attire. Once that has been completed we will make ourselves available to you to answer all of your questions." She gestured with her free hand to a captain who stood to her right. Heero saw the man had a cuff in his hand. He began to approach him cautiously.

Heero tensed and stood beside the bed. The second officer quickly drew his sidearm and aimed it at him in alarm. Commander Armonia stood firm and watched him with an unwavering stare.

"Please comply. We do not wish to inflict any unnecessary harm upon your person. This device is for our safety, and will allow you to walk among us without use of handcuffs or other barbaric devices. In the event that you try to harm one of my men, it will subdue you. Do you understand?" Armonia asked dully. She appeared strange and detached, as if she could care less about him or her task.

Heero sighed. He didn't like the idea of having the collar on, but he knew that if he were to fight the application he would be beaten and cuffed anyway. He sat on the edge of the bed and glared at the captain as he clipped the black, rubber coated inch thick choker around his neck. The man retreated quickly to resume his spot beside the commander, who gave him another calculating once-over before turning to leave. She and her entourage were soon replaced by two men in white and grey fitted jumpsuits. They gestured for him to follow them.

 **Part Five**

Duo estimated that he had slept for nearly eight hours. When he finally woke up he felt heavy and numb, but somewhat energized. He had taken a quick shower, scrubbed his hair clean and wrapped himself with a towel. He shoved his feet into his shower sandals and shuffled out of the massive shower chamber and into the main passageway of the Lennon. Haro and Demo had waited outside in the hall for him and as he exited he spotted Hilde crouched down beside them in the center of the walkway rubbing Haro's top affectionately. She looked up at him with a smile.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked hesitantly.

 _I feel like a fucking zombie,_ he thought. "I'm doing okay," he replied.

"I made you breakfast. Howard said you were talking about French toast the other day, and I thought… well, it might help." Hilde offered as she stood up.

"Oh, wow. Thanks, Hilde." He forced his best smile. He wasn't hungry at all, and he was sure that if he tried to eat anything he would throw it right back up.

"Listen… Duo. If you need to talk about this, I'm always here." She said with a sigh. He could feel her eyes studying his face. Hilde knew him better than anybody, and in the past she had been the person he had turned to with all of his troubles. When he and Heero had their falling out over the Preventer mission she was the one he confided in about it. Shortly after meeting Hilde Duo had become dependent on her for her unique, unyielding brand of support.

He also knew that she could see right through him.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go hit the light box for a minute and I'll meet you down there," he explained quickly as he hurried off down the hall without giving her a chance to respond. He heard Haro beeping and chirping as it chased after him. The doorway to the right of the shower chamber housed the vitamin D supplement capsules. As he entered the room he saw all four of the egg-shaped white chambers were empty. He dropped his towel from around his waist and heard a sharp, shrill cry from his feet. He looked down and saw a blob wobbling desperately beneath it.

"DARK! DARK! HELP! HELP!"

"Sorry," Duo mumbled as he pulled it from the wailing Haro. It blinked its red eyes angrily up at him before bouncing once.

"STOP! RUN! WHY! RUN?"

"I'm not running," he defended himself with exasperation against the bouncing, wailing ball.

"RUN! HILDE! HELPING, DUO! HELP!" The robot screeched.

Duo frowned, rolled his eyes and walked across the room naked save for his flip flops to the first capsule. "I don't need some pushy robot chastising me," he grumbled irritably.

He grabbed the black UV protective goggles from a hook on the outside of the capsule, snapped them onto his face, flipped on the switch to start the timer, stepped inside and closed it behind him. Immediately the inside of the egg-shaped capsule glowed with bright, blinding blue-white light of the UVB radiation. The air began to rush around him as hidden vents fanned cool air against his body as the bulbs that lined the inside of the capsule heated his skin.

The white noise from the hum of the bulbs and the whirring of fans forced all of his thoughts out of his mind. His anxieties, embarrassment, confusion, frustration, anger and irritation all disintegrated, leaving him raw and exposed in the isolation of the UVB capsule. He was finally alone, and nobody could judge him or see how he really felt.

He looked down at his feet through the goggles and saw that his skin appeared to glow white within the strange, concentrated light. He caught sight of his left arm with its mostly healed tattoo and felt an acidic bubble form in his throat.

"God," he whispered into the rush of air around him. "Please."

He closed his eyes, hung his head and tried to concentrate on the tingling burn of the radiation as it blasted against his skin.

 _Please,_ he thought desperately. _Don't take him from me. Not yet.^^_

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

* MO-V: a resource satellite, industrial colony and space exploration outpost located in the asteroid belt. (Primary setting of New Mobile Report Gundam Wing Dual Story: G-Unit) Located on the other side of the asteroid belt, further than any other colony from Earth. It possesses a population of 100,000. Original function was for extra-planetary travel, it reorganized its functions and specialized in manufacture of mobile suits (MS LEO) during after the collapse of the United Earth Sphere Alliance government. Home of the original MO-V test pilots. -

^ Phosphenes: a ring or spot of light produced by pressure on the eyeball or direct stimulation of the visual system (typically other than by light, but in Heero's specific case he is having an unusual reaction.)

** GW Ouroboros: What Friends Are For: Ch 14

^^ 5 Stages of Grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.


	52. Chapter 52

**Part One**

Heero stared down at the soft, stretchy black spandex clutched between his fingers and began to wonder about this sick, alternate universe he had been thrust into.

He sighed openly, unfolded the black athletic spandex shorts and pulled them up over his legs until they rested snugly against the tops of his hips. He picked up the crisp, white cotton tank top they had offered him and tugged it over his head before tucking it into the waistband with deft, practiced ease. He slipped on the white socks, folded them above the ankle and shoved his feet into a pair of short black size nine electrostatic flight boots before he approached the two men who had been waiting for him to finish dressing.

Heero's frame had stretched significantly over the years since he had last lived on MO-V. He had only weighed one-hundred pounds at fifteen, and stood at five foot, one inch tall during Operation Meteor. He recalled being a couple of inches shorter than that when he had first initiated his mobile suit training on the resource satellite under the guidance of Doctor J. Now he was nearly five foot, nine inches tall and approximately one hundred and forty-five pounds. The clothes offered to him fit his adult frame perfectly, which made him wonder how they had managed to estimate his current size in the first place.

Despite Duo's jokes about his clingy, childhood attire the unusual combination had always served specific purposes for Heero. The spandex of the shorts could slide comfortably and seamlessly beneath various types of flight suits. At the time he had been training almost exclusively on MS LEO models and the required g-suits for that particular weapon varied from the type needed by Wing Gundam. The simulator g-suit was also different from the actual pilot attire. Rather than slip in and out of suit-specific linings they simply clothed him in his black shorts full time. The tank top was also required not only serve as a lined layer beneath various space and flight suits, but also to provide easier access to his biceps and chest for the application of blood pressure monitors and EKG leads during training and assessment. The clothing was also easier to hide beneath disguises, so that he could shed an upper layer at any time if he were required to make a sudden escape while undercover. It also provided room for muscle and pubescent growth and was easy to wash and maintain.

He knew it was unusual to wear outside of piloting and undercover operations, but he had grown accustomed to them and simply continued to wear the tanktop and shorts for the entirety of Operation Meteor. Eventually Trowa had suggested that he make a change and had taken him shopping with Catherine to get his first pair of denim Levis and a jacket to put over his tank tops, which he continued to wear occasionally throughout his time during the Eve War and as an agent with Preventer.

The abandoned locker room smelled heavily of bleach and appeared to have been recently cleaned. Heero could hardly recall the room from his childhood. It wasn't often that he had been allowed to mingle with the general population during his stay at MO-V. Most of the time he had been confined to either the labs, the simulation center or his room. In the past his showers had been primarily taken in a small, fully equipped bathroom attached to the lab and all of his interactions limited to primarily his doctors, trainers and counselors. At the time it seemed as if the CLO was keeping him secret, which made sense considering his upcoming information sensitive mission. However, now as an adult, Heero had come to realize that the organization was not only hiding the fact that he was the Gundam's assigned pilot, but that he had been only a child.

He let his fingers gently probe the black, rubber coated security collar that rested firmly around his neck as the men led him down the familiar dark grey, dimly lit passageway away from the locker room and through the shifting crowds of uniformed NR-CLO members who all paused to watch him as he passed by. Heero tried not to make eye contact with anyone and simply narrowed his eyes on a distant, dark blurry point at the end of the hall. His bionic eye zoomed and brought the myopic image to full clarity and revealed a hunched figure who leaned against a microfiber, anti-static push broom.

Heero recognized the face of the hunched, worn form immediately.

 _Edison_ , the name snapped into his thoughts from the hidden tomb of his past. _I can't believe he's still here._

The once kind, round stubble-lined face of the training complex's head janitor was now sallow and sunken with thick, puffy bags that hung low beneath his world-weary grey eyes. Those eyes were watching him from a distance and Heero saw no sign of recognition in them.

Edison Joules had been one of the few people in Heero's life, aside from his deceased mother, who had ever treated him like the child that he was. He had encountered the man shortly after he had first arrived to MO-V. He was one of the only outsiders and local citizens Heero had interacted with during his stay. The trainers seemed not to notice him as he passed through meetings, walked restricted halls or seeped into any secret room like an enigmatic mist. Even now as they made their way closer various uniformed soldiers stepped over and around him without an acknowledging word or glance.

It was only when Heero was a mere five feet away from the man that his watery grey eyes illuminated with sudden recognition. Heero turned his face slightly as they passed and allowed his natural, cobalt blue eye to lock with the elderly man's as he traversed their shared space in the hallway. Eventually he vanished from Heero's peripheral vision as they continued their trek and turned a right corner to leave the astonished broom pusher behind.

Heero swallowed dryly as a vague, dark anxiety began to nag at the inside of his chest. Part of him had been pleased at the man's response, but with it came the sad memories of his isolation and the realization that despite that man's kindness to him he had never once sought him out to repay him. Edison had remained at the MO-V training complex alone, unappreciated and overlooked while Heero departed to explore the world with the seeds of humanity the man had planted within him so many years before.

He could recall one such seed being sowed within him on a day when he had a particularly trying assignment that had left his confidence shattered. He had recently undergone reprogramming and only the night before had his "cleanse" of "unnecessary thoughts" and that day had trouble discerning the enemy in simulation. The assignment had required him to attack multiple targets in a sequence as fast as possible, but he was intended to spare a particular civilian target. The buildings appeared the same to him, and he couldn't figure out which one was intended to be the civilian one. It seemed so simple, but his mind couldn't manage it. Doctor J had been open about his frustrations with him and the 'clients '; dark and broody businessmen who seemed to make most of the executive decisions on his training. They had discussed terminating him as pilot in front of him.

It had been a huge blow to his confidence. He felt useless and foolish for not being able to accomplish his missions. They had dumped him off in his room, where he had spent over an hour pacing and had worked himself into a fit of nausea. He had thrown up on the middle of the floor and Edison had been called in to clean it.

The janitor had been much younger then, with energetic eyes and a handsome midlife, ebony visage that often boasted a carefree smirk. As he was cleaning the vomit from the white enamel floor with a drying powder and brush he had begun to talk about tofu.

At first Heero had thought the man was insane as he prattled on about the geometric beauty of coagulated soy milk. Soon the conversation switched to baseball. He had asked him if he had ever played. Heero had told him no and that had launched the strange man into a rant about player stats and who was dominating the Colony Baseball MVP League. He had told him about thunderstorms on the planet and attempted to describe the scent of the unique, rich petrichor* after a terrestrial rain ends.

Soon after their first encounter Heero began to see the man more often. Sometimes he would pass through the training area to sneak him unauthorized foods or beverages during his unsupervised break periods. However, the thing Heero recalled most was Edison's gift of a black shoelace that had been tied in a loop. One evening while Heero was taking a long break between training sessions the janitor had taken a seat beside him on the bench against the wall behind the simulation POD and had shown him the circle of shoelace. He had slipped it around his forefingers and thumbs and had pulled it taut before he began a series of finger loops, twists and pulls to trace a five pointed star between his hands with the string. Heero had been intrigued. He had never seen anyone make a game out of a string before. Edison had shown him twice how to make the star and Heero had easily replicated the movements after that. Edison had told him to keep the string, and soon it became their own private exchange. Heero would keep the string looped twice around his wrist and spent much of his spare time knitting and tangling his fingers through it. Whenever the old janitor happened by him Heero would show him a new geometric pattern or shape he had figured out on his own, and the man would teach him a new sequence and design. The trainers had to have known that it was happening. Heero had made no attempt to hide the fact that he had the string. He supposed that they allowed it to keep him occupied. Soon it became a part of his daily life. Anytime he felt anxious or frustrated he would begin manipulating the string into triangles and rhombi to self-soothe. It also helped him to focus his thoughts and forced him to relax.

Shortly before departing for Operation Meteor the worn string had snapped and frayed beyond repair.

He dropped his two-tone eyes down to study the set of walking feet in front of him as he was led away from the man he had as a child considered his only friend.

 **Part Two**

Duo fast forwarded the last of the fruitless surveillance camera footage from the Lunar Mall and scowled darkly at the people shuffling to and fro on the monitor in front of him. He hadn't seen a thing. He had scoured hours upon hours of footage with no results. It was as if Heero had disintegrated into nothingness and had left nothing but his fallen cell phone behind.

Duo lit another cigarette off of the shrunken one dangling from his bottom lip, ashed it against the white wall tile beside his head and shoved the crumpled butt into an empty soda can before he took another deep, satisfying drag from the new cigarette. He tossed his now third empty box on the floor of the shower stall he had made his own personal, private workstation and grimaced at the two already empty cigarette boxes lying to the right of his folded legs. He straightened the overturned box he had made into a makeshift desk, shifted his weight against the shower stall floor and released a wobbly smoke ring from his lips. He watched as the ring floated quickly up to the ceiling to be sucked up and filtered through the various filtration and dehumidifiers installed in the shower chamber ceiling. He drummed the middle and index finger of his left hand feverishly against the edge of the laptop as he finished the last speedy few minutes of the recording before he snapped the top of the laptop down with a sigh. He puffed the menthol in his mouth a few more times and felt the satisfying, dulling lightheadedness that seemed to immobilize some of the anxiety that had been coursing through his brain all afternoon.

He knew that smoking was bad for him. Hell, every person who still smoked tobacco cigarettes did. Normally had one or two cigarettes a year tops, but with all of the stress that came with looking for Heero he had caved bought a carton of black market menthols on the Lunar Base before he and Wufei had returned to the Lennon. Wufei had seen him do it, grumbled under his breath about it being illegal but hadn't stopped him from buying them.

Duo had picked up the habit when he was very young, shortly after he had been taken in by the Maxwell Church. He supposed how he started smoking began in the same way that most children did: he wanted to look cool and fit in. A few years later tobacco cigarettes were banned entirely from the Earth-Sphere due to environmental and ethical reasons** and the old style of smoking was quickly replaced by vapor alternatives. However, the accessories for vaping cost more than most of the Underground people could afford, so soon tobacco became the new marijuana. Unlike marijuana, which could be grown efficiently in an indoor environment, tobacco was difficult to maintain with artificial light^. Only the more lucrative dealers could afford its black market production.

Duo had tried to switch to the vapor alternative in the past, but he didn't much care for it and decided to quit altogether. Eventually during extreme situations he found himself craving the burn of an actual cigarette, and had taken to hiding a pack in his freezer or in his car when he worked with Preventer and on X-18999 for the rare occasion the urge had struck.

Now he was seated in a shower stall on a spaceship puffing away like a human smokestack.

 _I'm a hot mess,_ he thought with a frown before he took his final drag, ashed and stuffed his evidence away. Just as he was standing up to move the box and laptop out of the stall he heard the main shower chamber door open. The air within the pressurized room shifted the open curtain of his stall. He poked his head out and saw Trowa approaching him slowly with his usual calm, peaceful yogi expression.

"Hey, you just get here?" Duo asked in greeting as Trowa made his way to the stall he currently inhabited. The other pilot nodded, gave his makeshift command center a once over and smirked at him.

"Yes. Quatre and I came as quickly as we could. How are you holding up?" He asked. His one exposed, emerald eye began to study his face. Duo shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest defensively.

"I'm fine. Why does everyone keep askin' me that?" He grumbled irritably. "It's not like he's dead yet."

Trowa frowned but said nothing. His silence was annoying him.

"I'm fine. Just tired." Duo explained. Trowa put his hands on his hips but continued to watch him in silence. Duo shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and grit his teeth.

"Stop looking at me like that, will you?" He forced a small voice past his teeth as he turned on his heels and grabbed everything off of the floor of the shower stall, shoved it all in front of Trowa's feet and turned on the water to wash away the black smudge that he had left on the shower wall. He scrubbed at it with his fingers until it vanished, turned off the water and quickly tried to change the subject.

"Haro's been pining for you the entire time you've been gone. Next time, take the little asshole with you." He said as he applied his most convincing, amused and carefree grin. He turned to face the former Heavyarms pilot and saw that Trowa's expression hadn't changed. He clearly wasn't buying what Duo was offering to him.

"I said stop looking at me like that."

"Duo, it's okay to be upset about this. It's normal. Wufei said you have hardly spoken to anyone all day and that you snapped at Hilde at lunch." Trowa reported the facts with the ease and smoothness of a field news reporter.

Duo tensed. "So Wufei's been talkin' shit about me, then? And I didn't snap at her. I mean… she keeps asking me the same question over and over again. Everyone is. Just leave me alone, I'm fine. How about instead of everyone sitting around wondering how Duo's doing they get to work trying to find Heero?" He felt the closed zipper that secured his composure gradually beginning to slide down to expose his true feelings. He bit his lower lip hard and shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it, because he knew it was pointless to. Weeping and whining wasn't going to bring them any closer to whoever took his best friend. He grabbed the laptop from the top of the box, flipped the box over, shoved the empty cigarette boxes inside it and began kicking the box past Trowa's feet and toward the door.

"I'm fine. Everything's gonna be okay^*" He said as convincingly as he could. He tried to skirt past his formidable companion but Trowa sidestepped and gracefully managed to block his path. "What? What is it?" He growled with frustration as the taller man looked down upon him with a sympathetic expression.

"You're not the only one who knows how to wear a mask," Trowa said softly, his voice barely audible over the churning of the fans above their heads. Duo blinked up at him and found himself taken aback. He began to feel guilty for being so short with Trowa, but he was just fed up and frustrated with how everyone was treating him. They kept avoiding using Heero's name around him, as if he were going to go off of the deep end and freak the fuck out if they had. He wanted to talk about it, but nobody wanted to listen to what he really had to say.

But Trowa did, and he was waiting for him to unload. Duo set the laptop down inside the box at his feet and stood slowly to meet Trowa's patient face, sighed loudly and hugged himself.

"Okay, so I'm upset. Shouldn't I be? How would you feel if someone stole Quatre out of nowhere? You guys have a great mission, everything is going fine, you're about to finally have some time to just hang out and be together and then some motherfucker swoops in and takes him? And you don't know where he is, or if he's okay. He could be dead, and it'd be all you could think about for hours, up all night having nightmares about people from the past coming and snagging the only person who really understood you. The person who saw you through some of the worst shit in your life. The fucking guy who makes ya feel human, and comfortable and safe…" Duo felt his throat tightening despite his best efforts to stop it. He hugged himself tighter and forced his eyes down to stare into the box that lie between them.

"I shouldn't be worried about myself, but I am. I feel like a complete fucking piece of shit. I'm worried about Heero, but I'm also terrified that I'll never see him again. I feel so fucking selfish, it makes me sick. It's just… I finally had what I always wanted, and once again I get fucked over. If he dies, I don't know what I'll do…" his eyes began to burn. He sniffed back the tide of tears that had begun to rise from within his eyelids. "I won't be able to take it. I know it's stupid, and childish and ridiculous to think that people will last forever, but…"

He didn't know what else to say. He felt the thick plaster he had dutifully applied to his emotions begin to flake away and crack down the center. He wiped his eyes with the back of his space suit sleeve and choked loudly on a sob. He saw Trowa's foot shove the box to the side to clear the space between them before the former Heavyarms pilot grabbed his shoulders and firmly eased him closer. Duo hesitated. He had never done this with anyone but Heero or Hilde, but he knew that once his weight had been tilted forward there was no going back. He collapsed into Trowa's uniformed chest and completely fell apart. He felt his friend slide his heavy arms around his shoulders and felt the crushing weight of the other man's reassurance as he hugged him.

* * *

 **Footnotes** :

* Petrichor: a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.

** "These effects include: erosion and loss of soil productivity for food crops, acute shortages of timber for construction, deficiencies of fuel wood for cooking and reduced production of other forest products important in LMIC economies. In addition, tobacco farming may be associated with destruction of ground water resources; sedimentation of rivers, reservoirs and irrigation systems; climate change; and species extinction due to habitat fragmentation and overexploitation" - content/21/2/191

^ . ?f=1&t=1739

^* /1x-QkeVAdtA- Duo's image song, "Kitto, Okay!" from the Gundam Wing soundtracks. XD


	53. Chapter 53

**Part One**

The monitors that were assigned to Heero led him into a large, utilitarian conference room that was located a good distance away from the main training center. Heero had never been inside the conference room or its surrounding offices before. This wing of the complex was relatively new to him. He stepped inside the large, rectangular room and took a seat at the end of the massive metal centrally located conference table and waited. The two men who had provided him with nourishment and supervised his shower stood directly behind him and waited.

Heero found himself exploring the rubber collar they had put around his neck and wondered what its function was. Commander Armonia had mentioned that it was less barbaric than handcuffs but Heero wasn't so sure about that. He had worn something similar to this when he had been training with Doctor J on Wing, during a time when the CLO had little faith in him to not run away and abandon his mission with the mobile suit. It had been a shock collar back then, and he assumed that this device would respond the same in the event he tried to run or attack someone.

Heero's fingers ghosted over the rubberized surface of his collar before they glided up the side of his face to touch the stiff muscles of his temple just above his new ocular implant. Despite the fact that his brain had fused seamlessly to his bionic eye he still felt uncomfortable with the idea that his original, organic eye was gone.

It concerned him that he was losing physical parts of himself now, rather than just the moral and emotional ones. How much more could he possibly give to the world? He had lost his family and his childhood. His body had been put through the worst abuse imaginable: broken bones, electroshock, torture, crushing gravitational forces, and more concussive damage than he could remember. At one point he was even willing to give away his life, and the time mortality had assigned to him by joining Relena in cryostasis for the hope of future peace.

He closed his eyes and curled the fingers of his left hand into a tight fist beneath the table and let the pad of his right index finger slip over the makeshift, yellow wire ring Duo had given him. He had lost everything, but had gained something more in return.

If it weren't for the hope that he would one day be fulfilled in life and share that fulfillment with someone else, he would have given up long ago.

It was that singular hope that continued to keep him alive, otherwise he would have killed himself before being made into a weapon again.

 **Part Two**

"You're sayin' I just gotta lay here? For how long?" Duo asked as his nose scrunched with disgust. "I don't have time to just lay here for hours."

Professor G snorted through his enormous nose and glared at him. "Why does everything have to be so difficult with you? I'm asking you to take a nap, and you're fighting with me."

Duo swung his legs as they dangled limp and naked over the side of the metal exam table in the medical wing and scowled at the crotchety scientist. "I can't. I'm busy. Can't we do this later?"

"Oh, because we can just develop technology out of thin air on a whim, right? Who do you think we are?" Professor G grumbled as he turned his back to him and began to activate the neural scanners. Duo shrugged his shoulders against the thick curtain of wires that were draped aroud his head, neck and shoulders. The halo that they had put over the crown of his head rested awkwardly and dug painfully into his scalp. He didn't know how Heero could stand being in this shit all the time.

"Sure, why not? You guys are like space wizards or something, right? I mean, you're not dead. Miraculously. What's that about? And then you have this magical spaceship you just to happen to have hidden here in the asteroid belt. Ya made complex robo eyes out of nothing for Heero. Hey, Doctor J, did you cast curaga on my spine? Sorry, G, but you're obviously the black mage of the party." Duo was rambled in an attempt to postpone the inevitable experimentation he was about to be subjected to.

"I never know what the hell you're talking about," Professor G mumbled as he gestured for him to lie to the table.

Doctor J was standing at the foot of the table with his usual carefree, goofy grin. Duo glanced at him, sighed and twisted around to lie flat on his back against the cold, metal table. They had stripped him down to a pair of shorts to make easy access for all of the sticky tape and probes around his heart, chest and sides of his rib cage. The exposed skin on his back grew tight against the chilled surface and forced a shiver to zap up his spine.

"Shit, it's freezing. Is this really necessary?" He mumbled as he shifted uncomfortably against the tabletop. Suddenly his back erupted with a gradual warmth and soon the entire backside of his body felt comfortable and cozy. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and saw that Doctor J was still at the end of the table, except now his grin was even wider.

"Better?" The old man asked with a chuckle. Duo shrugged a shoulder and smirked.

"Yeah, thanks." He replied as he flopped down onto his back again and wiggled around in an attempt to get comfortable. There was nothing to look at on the ceiling except a couple of white, circular overhead lights.

"Okay, so we've taken your musical preferences and are going to have you listen to them through these," Professor G said from beside the table. He held up a pair of thick, padded black wired headphones. "And then we'll measure your autonomic responses to each of the songs and will develop a series of tones and sounds that will stimulate your brain and body to react that way when under attack by the subsonic wave."

He turned, pushed himself back up to a sit and gawked at the mushroom-capped old timer. "Eh? The who-da-what?"

Doctor J laughed before he walked around the side of the table to stand beside Professor G and clamped his claw-like hand on the other man's shoulder which caused G to visibly cringe.

"What he means is that we're going to find music that will hopefully counteract the effects of the thing you and Heero encountered in space." Doctor J explained. He reached over to grab the monitor Professor G had been working on an swiveled around so Duo could see the frantic bright green horizontal zig-zag of his on EEG readout.

"So, explain what the difference is between my brain and Heero's, then. Why did that thing make him puke and space-out like that, but it did hardly anything to me?" He asked while tugging at the EEG wires around his face.

"It's rather complex. The human brain is made up of various types of waves that dominate at different stages of development, consciousness, so forth. Heero's brain at rest is more active than a normal person's, much like yourself. His brain has an unusually high amount of gamma waves, which are used for learning, cognition and high-level information processing. Your brain has increased activity of beta waves, which are used for conscious thought. That is why you have a good memory, and can fix and solve problems easily."

Doctor J released the other scientist's tense shoulder and walked around the table to stand at the foot of it once more. He stroked his chin thoughtfully with his claw. "The weapon uses a variety of subsonic broadcasts that has a stimulating effect on different parts of the brain. When we tested Heero with it, he experienced violent reactions because the primary subliminal control factor increases the gamma waves. His gamma is already high, nearly one hundred hertz at rest. Gamma waves are involved in much of the subliminal processing of the brain anyway, so when he experienced it it basically put his body into overload. Your beta waves dominance operates at a lower range, somewhere between twelve and forty hertz so somehow it overrode the broadcast, or perhaps neutralized its effect, which made your reaction much milder."

Duo rubbed his probe-encrusted forehead and sighed loudly. "So wait, this thing is trying to control us? Does that mean Heero could have been controlled by it?"

Professor G shrugged. "We don't know. He was overwhelmed he became confused. It gave him a strange, non-contact concussion. Perhaps its intention was to stop you from escape, rather than to actually control you. The same thing happened here. He had a concussive reaction, but then when we amplified the sound his gamma waves went off the charts and it was at that point he lost his cognitive abilities entirely."

"Holy shit. So wait… if I have a fancy brain, then why the hell couldn't I connect to ZERO before? And why does Heero's brain seem to override mine? If his brain is so hyperactive, then why the hell does it make me feel so calm when I connect to him?" Duo asked. He decided to take full advantage of this spring of knowledge while he could and get some of his curiosities answered.

"ZERO uses gamma waves to interface with the pilot. Heero was chosen specifically for his ability to integrate with the system because of his increased brain activity. We have always known of his gamma production," Doctor J explained blandly. " When you bond with Heero through Wing-One, you're experiencing his brain in neural synchronization with ZERO. You feel calm because Heero's higher processing and multitasking abilities are so practiced that he himself is calm and focused during the experience. The calm and neutralizing effect you feel has nothing to do with his brain waves, but moreso his actual persona and affection for you."

The statement forced Duo to realize his current situation once more, and he became painfully aware of how absent Heero was from the ship. He frowned and wordlessly tilted back to return to a supine position on the table once more. Thankfully the two coots made no further comment. Professor G handed him the headphones and he carefully slid them over the EEG halo and rested the padded cups gently over his ears. The exothermic heat against his back did little to soothe the lingering emptiness he felt.

Abruptly his ears swam with the calm melodic, plucky guitar opening of "Red Barchetta" by Rush. He stared up at the unremarkable ceiling and took a deep breath before he closed his eyes and tried to relax. The insides of his eyelids illuminated immediately with the memory of the inside of his long lost Shelby Cobra and his now equally lost lover at the steering wheel.

Doctor J had been right about Duo's brain. He had an impeccable memory, and he could vividly recall the first time he had listened to this song with Heero back on X-18999.^ Heero had come to the colony to investigate Quatre for something that turned out to be a misunderstanding, and Duo had got himself caught in the crossfire of Heero's Preventer investigation. Literally. He had taken a bullet to the thigh, and so he was forced into the passenger seat of his beloved acapulco blue Shelby while Heero had driven them to the police department.

He had been excited to show him his car, the rebuilt tape deck and remagnetized antique, vintage cassettes he had custom restored.

He remembered everything. The dull, aching pain in his leg that only sharpened with each shift and pull of the muscle car as it turned and bumped along the road. Heero looked fucking gorgeous behind the wheel of that car, with his eyes narrowed with focus and his long, work-worn fingers of his right hand grasped tightly on the 1400 position of the leather wrapped steering wheel.

It had been shortly after he had found out that Heero and Relena were no longer together, and when they arrived at the police department he stole a kiss in the parking lot and tried not to make too many jokes about courthouse weddings when they had to sign in at the front desk.

Duo became very aware of the red wire ring on his finger as he lie on the table being bombarded by his memories. He thumbed the underside of the ring thoughtfully. He was still upset about Heero's disappearance, but after being able to fully vent at Trowa he felt some relief. Duo didn't know how to properly deal with his problems, and he knew that it was a personal flaw he had to work on. Sometimes it was just easier to put on a brave face and keep moving forward, rather than sit back and dwell on the issue. He was prone to overthinking things, and so it was easier to repress the issue rather than face it head-on. In the end that method always bit him in the ass, but after years of perfecting his method of choice it was a hard habit to break.

He was grateful for everyone's support and he still felt guilty for snapping at Hilde. He decided that after he was finished with this experiment he was going to find her and apologize.

He frowned and tried to force his body to relax but with little success. He began to wonder how he was ever going to fall asleep.

 **Part Three**

"I'm sure you're wondering why you're here," Commander Armonia said flatly as she folded her white-gloved hands one over the other on the table in front of her. Heero looked from the brunette, apathetic commander to the aggressive blond captain to her left. The commander followed his gaze to the woman who he had first encountered the day before in his room. "You've met my sister Soris. Captain Soris Armonia."

Soris was watching him with intense, narrowed eyes. Heero returned her gaze with equal, hostile verve.

"I see you've been adequately cared for. You must be upset with us for your abduction, but as I said before it was necessary," Commander Armonia began. "As I have mentioned, we are the New Resistance Colony Liberation Organization."

"You've said," Heero replied firmly. "Why did you bring me here?"

"We have studied your profile at length, and require your assistance," Commander Armonia replied. Heero straightened in his seat and shifted his gaze from Soris to the commander.

"I will not fight for you," he informed plainly. He heard Soris snarl under her breath.

"We do not ask you to fight. There will be very little fighting," the commander said slowly. "We are aware of your status as a Newtype."

"I'm not a Newtype," Heero replied. Soris rolled her eyes and slammed her hand on the table. The gesture caused a couple of lower ranking officers in the room to jump with surprise.

"Stop fucking around, we know what you are. We have all of your files and training records. You're a Newtype. Let's stop playing games here and quit being so formal." Soris stood so quickly that her chair tipped over and slammed to the floor. An enlisted man scrambled over to pick it up for her as she pressed her palms on the table and leaned across it to glower at Heero.

"If you have my file, then why do you require me to be here? What else could you possibly learn from me?" Heero asked, nonplussed.

Soris appeared as if she were about to leap over the table to strangle him. He turned his attention back to her higher ranking sister and proceeded to ignore her.

"We need you to train our pilot," the commander said bluntly.

Heero felt his eyes involuntarily widen. He looked from the commander to the captain for verification. Soris was grinning wickedly, amused by his response.

"No," Heero replied with a frown.

"You act like you have a choice," Soris snarled. Commander Armonia lifted a hand to gesture for her sister to quiet. The captain reluctantly took her seat, crossed her arms and scowled at Heero darkly from across the table.

"You must understand, we are not the enemy. We need you to help bolster the NR-CLO, as you once had for our parent organization. We know of your sacrifices. You are not our enemy, but a hero. The hero of the colonies, the bringer of peace." Commander Armonia's eyes glistened with passion and for the first time since their meeting she appeared energized. "We are asking that you simply instruct our new pilot on how to control his Newtype abilities and connect to our battle system."

Heero frowned. "The Earth-Sphere is united. I don't understand what need you have for a pilot," he said firmly. "What you propose is against the disarmament treaties. It forces the colonies away from unification with Earth and Total Pacifism. I will not. I can't become involved in anything that goes against what I believe in."

"Some freedom fighter you are!" Soris hissed. "This is the fucking crap they replaced me with?"

Heero continued to ignore her. "You ask me to become something I can no longer be. I'm sorry you've wasted your time, but I will not facilitate the training of anyone on a battle system."

"I'm sorry to hear you say that," Commander Armonia replied, her face reflecting her clear disappointment. "If you would just meet our pilot, and perhaps mentor him?"

"I have no interest in aiding your cause, whatever that may be." Heero replied honestly. He could hear Soris suck her teeth at his statement.

"You do realize that if you don't help us, we'll just have to kill you, right?" Soris exclaimed, her expression smug. "Still won't change your mind?"

Heero sighed and looked down at the surface of the table. "I will not."

"Let's not be rash," Commander Armonia said. She stood up from her chair, which prompted her sister to stand and all of the lower ranking officers in the room to stand at attention. "We'll give you some time to think about it. I will have the pilot's file sent to your room, along with details of the battle system in question. I am sorry that I can't give you any more information than that at this time."

Heero felt his arms roughly grabbed by two soldiers who forced him to stand as Commander Armonia made her exit with her fiery sister in tow.

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

 **Okay, so all of this crazy music, drumming, bonding, Newtype crazy is all starting to reveal itself and come together. I wanted to go ahead and touch on some of this footnote and paraphrase a little bit for you guys since these notes use pretty specific terminology. Basically Heero's brain is operating fast with gamma, Duo's is running at a different wavelength on beta but together they are adorably awesome.**

Duo's need to drum his fingers, tap is feet and fidget is contributed to his massive amount of beta wave production at any given time (which can flux or decrease with anxiety or stimulation). Beta waves are also said to be involved with having a good memory, which is why he can hear something (he's an auditory learner) once and remember it forever. They are also involved in problem solving parts of the brain, which explains his tinkering and ability to come up with solutions quickly and on the fly (and often creatively as well) Examples: fixing Relena's tube, the Haros, and rigging his mobile suit last minute under duress to operate it without the use of his legs. Over time Duo has learned to consciously **suppress some of his beta activity to make it easier to fuse with ZERO.**

 **Heero's brain activity directly meshes with ZERO system. Gamma waves are said to be involved in certain REM sleep cycles, which provides visualization to the brain. This corresponds with the idea that Heero is able to envision ZERO predictions seamlessly, and maybe hints that something is up with his brain and premonitions facilitated by ZERO itself (innocent whistle). Gamma waves are associated with deep, cognitive thought, advanced learning and high processing tasks.**

 **The Footie Footnotes:**

* **Gamma waves** : "A **gamma wave** is a pattern of neural oscillation in humans with a frequency between 25 and 100 Hz, though 40 Hz is typical. neuronal clusters oscillate together during these transient periods of synchronized firing, they help bring up memories and associations from the visual percept to other notions. This brings a distributed matrix of cognitive processes together to generate a coherent, concerted cognitive act, such as perception. This has led to theories that gamma waves are associated with solving the binding problem***. observed as neural synchrony from visual cues in both conscious and subliminal stimuli. Gamma waves have been observed in Tibetan Buddhist monks. A 2004 study took eight long-term Tibetan Buddhist practitioners of meditation and, using electrodes, monitored the patterns of electrical activity produced by their brains as they meditated. The researchers compared the brain activity of the monks to a group of novice meditators (the study had these subjects meditate an hour a day for one week prior to empirical observation). In a normal meditative state, both groups were shown to have similar brain activity. However, when the monks were told to generate an objective feeling of compassion during meditation, their brain activity began to fire in a rhythmic, coherent manner, suggesting neuronal structures were firing in harmony. This was observed at a frequency of 25–40 Hz, the rhythm of gamma waves. These gamma-band oscillations in the monk's brain signals were the largest seen in humans (apart from those in states such as seizures)." - Wikipedia. (Excerpts)

** Beta Waves: **Beta wave** , or beta rhythm, is the term used to designate the frequency range of human brain activity between 12.5 and 30 Hz. Low amplitude beta waves with multiple and varying frequencies are often associated with **active, busy or anxious thinking and active concentration**. Beta waves are associated with the muscle contractions that happen in isotonic movements and are suppressed prior to and during movement changes. Bursts of beta activity are associated with a strengthening of sensory feedback in static motor control and reduced when there is movement change. Beta activity is increased when movement has to be resisted or voluntarily suppressed. The artificial induction of increased beta waves over the motor cortex by a form of electrical stimulation called Transcranial alternating-current stimulation consistent with its link to isotonic contraction produces a slowing of motor movements. - Wikipedia (Excerpts)

*** The binding problem: (Two Types: segregation - BP1 and combination - BP2) The segregation problem is the problem of how brains segregate elements in complex patterns of sensory input so that they are allocated to discrete "objects". The combination problem is "How do the brain mechanisms actually construct the phenomenal object?", "consciousness-related binding", emphasizing the entailment of a phenomenal aspect. - Wikipedia. (Condensed)

^ GW OUROBOROS: What Friends Are For. Chapter 14.

* * *

Luna Armonia:

Soris Armonia:

Bonus:

(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ - Soris flipping the damn table.


	54. Chapter 54

**Part One**

Duo stared down at the new, white Wing-One immersion helmet Doctor J had handed him with smirk. Someone had painted a rather elaborate calligraphy-style blue "W" that was surrounded by an "O" and flanked by silver, feathery angel wings on the front of the opaque, matching pearl white visor. He looked up from the Lucifer cockpit to eye the two scientists. Professor G immediately turned away and began to study some hidden detail somewhere within the masked face of Lucifer above them. Duo couldn't help but grin.

"Heh, nice little touch there, G." He turned the helmet over in his hands and resisted the urge to tease the clearly uncomfortable man any further. He leaned back into the pilot seat and stretched his legs out against the compressive fabric of the black ferroelectric flight suit. It had been a while since he had worn one or had connected to Wing-One for that matter.

Part of him was excited to get to work with the system again, but with that excitement came the dull ache that filled the empty part of him where Heero's presence used to reside. Had his partner been there they would have connected to the system together.

"So once you put that on you'll connect to Wing-One as usual. It's been modified to fit your current brain activity and will present the appropriate track that corresponds to your current beta wave level," Professor G explained as he continued to avoid making eye contact.

"Cool. So it's like having a custom soundtrack," Duo reasoned with a smirk. "I hope it has some AC/DC on it. This thing is gonna put you out of business, Haro."

The orange, now very irritated robot swiveled in its dock on the control panel and flashed its red eyes at him. Duo chuckled and reached out to affectionately caress the top of the ball with a black gloved hand. "You know I'm foolin' with ya," he said with a smile.

"DUO, MEAN. DUO, MEAN!" Haro whined.

"I'm the worst. If you hate me so much you don't gotta stay. I'm sure Demo would love to take your place." Duo taunted the ball. He watched as it flapped its earflaps frantically and screeched.

"NO! NO! LOVE DUO! STAY! STAY!" Haro pleaded. Duo nodded and pat its top.

"Okay, if you put it that way," he said. "You can stay."

"Wing-One itself operates as a simple, low level A.I. It will compose the neutralizing music for you based on your neural output." Doctor J resumed his explanation with a wicked cyborg grin that gave Duo the creeps. He couldn't help but wonder how Heero would look with those two vintage, robotic eyes. Imagining his lover grinning like a madman gave him the willies.

 _No. Just … no. Shit is serial killer creepy._ He blinked the image out of his mind before snapping back to the conversation.

"Wait a minute… so it's going to perform something for me? I thought it was gonna use my own music?" Now he was confused. "What did ya need my music for, then?"

"To familiarize it with your brain's response to sound. It will take aspects of various music you already prefer and will apply the instrumentals, tempo and lyrics based on whatever the enemy broadcast throws at you to keep your beta wave levels high enough to combat it's gamma output." Doctor J explained with excitement. It was clear that he was enthusiastic about their new invention.

"So if it combats gamma, won't that make it so I can't bond with Heero? His thing is gamma waves, right?" Duo deduced with a frown.

"Unfortunately, yes. However, if we get Yuy back-"

Duo bristled and scoffed loudly. "You mean WHEN," he corrected Professor G with more venom than he truly intended. He knew that he was having a knee-jerk reaction but at this point he didn't care. He hadn't given up on Heero yet and he would be damned if anyone else did.

"WHEN we get Heero back," Doctor J said calmly, "you won't be able to use this version of Wing-One to bond with him, or anyone for that matter. It's solely for neutralizing the effects of that subsonic broadcast. You can still use the black helmets. Those are primarily Wing-One immersion without this neutralizer."

"Okay," Duo replied. "So I put this thing on, and then what?"

"We're going to run the simulator and have it assess your baseline, and then we're going to broadcast the subsonic wave into your cockpit and see how Wing-One NEU adjusts to to the wave attack." Doctor J was beaming. Duo rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Neeuuuuwww? What kind of dorky name is that?" He teased playfully. He saw Professor G stiffen and scowl at the comment.

"Alright," Duo said with a sigh as he lifted the helmet over the top of his head. He slid it down carefully over his face. Soon his vision was filled with a soundless, colorless plane. Rather than have his vision go dark as the black helmet often did, the internal screen of this helmet glowed with a bright, irritating white light.

He heard a faint buzzing and clicking noise in his right ear, which was then followed by a mild static shock that slipped from his ear, down through his scalp and into the base of his neck. The black, stretchy ferroelectric flight suit suit twitched against his bare skin before it systematically began to squeeze up his calves, thighs and torso to establish his baseline

"Well," Duo said faintly from within the helmet. "Here goes nothin'."

 **Part Two**

Heero fingered the basic data tablet the organization had provided for him to review their pilot's file and test results. The information provided was limited to performance statistics only, and contained no information about the pilot's origins, his/her name or anything personal about the individual.

He frowned as he scrolled through mass of raw information. The NR-CLO had continued to use the same training techniques and methods that he had trained with years ago for Operation Meteor, along with some new types of conditioning Heero had never heard of before. He tried to speculate what they could be, and concluded that what was labelled 'neural artifact exposure' had something to do with the battle system they wanted him to train the pilot on.

 _It's probably something fused with ZERO_ , he surmised. Surely the NR-CLO had access to the plans for ZERO. It was through funding by that organization that Doctor J and the other scientists had finalized its development. Heero knew that at one point Doctor J had worked with the Alliance to develop weapons, but as Heero understood it the ZERO system was in its concept stages at the time. It was only when Heero had trained on Wing that ZERO was finalized, though it never was installed on his original Wing Gundam.

Heero wasn't sure why the CLO didn't trust him to use ZERO initially, especially considering all of the time he had spent training to interface with it.

He set the tablet down on the bed beside him and rubbed his tired eyes with his fingers. He could feel the distinct difference of resistance of the fleshy, natural organic eye compared to the hard, fixed sensation of his bionic one.

He was reluctant to make the decision to train the pilot. Soris had said they would kill him if he refused. He didn't doubt that they would. He knew too much about their location on MO-V and their membership to be allowed to leave freely. He didn't want to train the pilot. He didn't want to become involved with their plans, whatever they were. He didn't want to be the guiding hand of a weapon or a killer.

He straightened his back and turned his face up to stare into the black surveillance camera over his head and knew that if he wanted to get out of this alive would have to accept their terms and hope for an opening for escape.

"I'll do it," he finally said up at the ceiling. A minute later the door to his room unlocked, swung open and revealed the figure of his predecessor, Soris.

"Good, now let's go. You've wasted enough of our time."

 **Part Three**

Duo was laughing. He couldn't believe what was coursing through his ears. He jerked the thrust controls to throw his simulated mobile suit into a barrel roll. As he did the upbeat, house-style electronica music in his ears buzzed with a variety of melodic tones and quickened in tempo. He straightened out, shot at the incoming unmarked simulation Taurus mobile suit and brought his Gundam to a halt. The music in his ears shifted and the tempo dragged with his sudden stagnation. A man's voice chanted "adventures in time … and … and andandand-" in response. The end of the statement hung on and stuttered as it waited for his next move. As he kicked the suit into full thrust and jerked it around to face the opposite direction for a hard lock on another incoming target the man's voice in his ear swam with the music, floated and bobbed for a moment on a tide of heavy bass and then exclaimed "-space!" as he shot the second target. He cackled loudly as the simulated enemy disintegrated.

 **Cobra Commander, all targets have been destroyed.** Wing-One informed him in her usual logical, sexy computer voice.

He smiled broadly within the shielded helmet and rolled his shoulders to ease the tension that had built in them from the prolonged pressure of the ferroelectric suit.

 _"That's it? Let's do one more,"_ he asked the system with excitement. He could feel the vibration from the subsonic weapon broadcast emanate from beneath his pilot seat as it was being presented by a series of speakers and subwoofers throughout his cockpit, but he experienced no ill effect by it. It felt like a pleasant, numbing massage and nothing more. Whatever the two scientists had installed in his new helmet was doing the trick. _"One more simulation. Load program, random."_

 **Simulation random load. Activated.** Wing-One complied.

 **Part Four**

Heero followed Soris and the two monitors down through the heart of the complex. As he walked behind her, flanked by his two white-clad escorts, he felt the eyes of the other soldiers and personnel. He knew that he stood out with his control collar on, but the way they were looking at him made him uncomfortable. It was as if they knew who he was and were disappointed with what they saw.

Heero knew this wing of the complex well. It had been where he spent most of his time in training. He could hear the pneumatics of the simulation PODs and smelled the tangy scent of the grease from the pistons that controlled the simulator's tilt and movement. A group of young men and women of varied ages and statures dressed in matching grey flight suits stood outside the simulation hangar door. They ducked together and whispered as he passed by. Heero could see the dark gunmetal grey and black simulation PODs in use behind them as they bobbed and weaved violently while their users tested their new skills.

He knew that they weren't going into the main hangar. He had never trained there. If this pilot was special, he/she would require a more complex form of simulation than the rudimentary mobile suit PODs.

They passed the main training hangar and led him down a small side corridor to a closed, massive white door with the Greek symbol "γ" stenciled in green. Soris paused beside the keypad to the right of the door and punched in a long sequence of numbers. The door hissed and slid away to reveal what Heero knew to be the isolation training area and lab. The same place he had once trained.

As he was led inside he took in his familiar surroundings. The medical lab was to the right with its clear, thin glass walls that displayed a simple white exam table and a wall of tangled wires and blinking lights Heero that recognized as the reprogramming server. To the left was an area filled with exercise equipment such as treadmill, free weights and resistance machines. In the center of the massive white room was what had once been his ZERO interface and simulation POD, except now the white egg-shaped chamber appeared sleeker, more stylized and complex. Rather than the pneumatic movable frame that had once manipulated his old POD, this one free-floated a few feet in the air above a large blue glowing disc. Shimmering ambient light filled the space between what Heero assumed was a control platform for the egg-shaped POD itself. He recognized the glisten in the air and assumed that the POD was being tilted and turned upon a fog of nanomachines. He watched in awe as the POD soundlessly spun and twisted within the aura of light as the pilot within interacted with the simulator. He was impressed. The old forms of simulation were often limited to the range of the pistons, but this appeared to have the ability to rotate 360 degrees. The speed at which the POD shifted was shocking. The way the old piston system moved was clunky and similar to that of a mobile suit within the grasp of Earth's gravity. This appeared to have no limitation at all.

Heero felt a strange, uncomfortable tension overcome his body as they made their way into the center of the room. Soris was grinning at the silently spinning POD with look of satisfaction. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest in an attempt to calm himself. He knew that it would be difficult for him to return to this place, but he hadn't expected to feel as if the walls were coming in on him. He shifted his weight and watched as the POD's turns and spins began to slow. Eventually it stopped moving, turned itself upright and dropped down to rest against the pulsating platform. The azure light faded and a loud hiss announced the presence of the pilot.

Heero saw a slight, short figure slip out from the black opening that had parted the POD down the center. He could make out the faint, dark outline of the internal controls and pilot seat. The pilot took the three metal steps lightly to meet them on the floor.

He watched as Soris reached over to grab the shoulder of the small pilot clad in a clingy white flight suit. He couldn't make out a face beneath silver tinted reflective visor. The pilot turned his/her white helmet to face him.

"Gamma, I want you to meet Beta. He's going to be your new instructor," Soris explained as she gestured carelessly in Heero's direction. He watched the pilot raise his/her hands to remove the helmet.

Heero stared wide-eyed as a replica of his own childish face was revealed. He reflexively took a step back as his jaw fell agape at the sight of himself; a nearly exact copy of his ten year-old self. Everything about this person was identical to his boyish self except that this individual's hair was buzzed short.

"A clone," he murmured in surprise. He felt a surge of anger activate within him. The force jolted him out of his shock and brought the situation to clarity. They had cloned him again and now they wanted him to train his clone.

His hands were balled so tightly he could feel his fingernails piercing the flesh of his palms as his rage rose quickly and exponentially. His glare locked with the clone's two intense cobalt eyes. Heero's ocular implant revealed a shimmer of bright blue light coursing like lightning across the backs of the clone's widely dilated pupils.

He felt his self-control slip with every nanosecond that passed.

 _They can't do this. I can't let them do this._

"Duh, that's obvious. I'm starting to think that making a clone of _you_ was a mistake, though, if the end result is… well," Soris taunted him with a wicked smile. "You know, we assumed that when he grew up he'd be a little taller."

 _I'm a weapon. They've made another weapon. There can be no peace while this weapon exists_ , his brain was rampant with the memories of his own violent boyhood before Operation Meteor.

Heero snapped. He lunged at the clone. His punch was blocked by the helmet as the smaller version of himself reacted with lightning quick reflexes, ducked and swung back with his free hand. Heero blocked the tiny incoming fist with his right forearm and attempted a counter strike at his clone with an uppercut to the torso. The clone jumped back and spun in an attempt to smash the helmet against the side of Heero's head. Heero ducked. He felt the helmet rustle through the top of his hair at the close call.

"SOMEONE WRING HIM!" Soris screamed from behind the clone. Heero ducked another swipe with the helmet as his clone came at him with fearless ferocity.

He went on the defensive and shuffled backward. The clone fell into a stance that Heero immediately recognized. The boy pivoted his body and began to turn his back to Heero with his right leg raised as if he were about to initiate a roundhouse kick. Heero recognized that the speed and energy behind the movement was intended for something more. He raised his fists and prepared to duck as the boy launched himself with a loud kiai* into a bolley kick^ in an attempt to land a foot to Heero's face.

Heero ducked, sidestepped and struck the clone's back as he spun in the air and sent him face-first into the floor. Just as he was about to stomp on the kid's neck the collar around his own neck constricted rapidly and cut off his airway. The sudden choking sensation caught him off-guard and made him hesitate long enough for his clone to scramble across the floor and leap to his feet a safe distance away.

Heero's vision tunneled as the blood flow to his brain dwindled. His legs gave out from beneath him and he fell to his hands and knees. His body raggedly gasped and gagged for air.

"You're a fucking idiot," Soris snarled as she stomped up to him and kicked him in the side. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

The last thing Heero saw before he blacked out was Soris's foot coming towards his face as his stoic clone looked on from behind.

 **Part Five  
**

 _"I looked out this morning and the sun was gone_

 _Turned on some music to start my day_

 _I lost myself in a familiar song_

 _I closed my eyes and I slipped away_

 _It's more than a feeling (more than a feeling)_

 _When I hear that old song they used to play (more than a feeling)"_

"More Than a Feeling" by Boston blared loudly within the helmet of his spacesuit to effectively drown out any thoughts that Duo could had possibly had aside from his current task. Shield repair. He made a clumsy gesture with a thick, padded glove at Haro and Demo as they floated cheerfully beside him. Demo whipped out its cable arm and reached into a toolbox that was magnetically attached to the panel in front of Duo to retrieve the drill he needed. He nodded his thanks, adjusted the bright white light of his headlamp and continued his repair of the damage he had inflicted on the Zan with Lucifer during his wild trip on Eyeshine. The two robotic balls fluttered around in the zero-g and waited for further instruction.

 _"When I'm tired and thinking cold_

 _I hide in my music, forget the day_

 _and dream of a girl I used to know_

 _I closed my eyes and she slipped away_

 _She slipped away..."_

He absently hummed the tune as he carefully replaced the protective panel over the fully repaired shield generator and proceeded to tighten its four bolts firmly in place. His stomach growled to get his attention and began to vibrate angrily against the warm, clingy inner lining of his suit.

"Yeah-yeah, I hear ya…" he mumbled as he reached out to slide the external panel back into place. He watched as it sunk down and fell onto its magnetic rails to fuse seamlessly against the hull. He smacked his bulky gloved hands together as if to dust them off with accomplishment before he removed the tether and magnet that had kept him from floating away from his work. He pocketed it, replaced the drill within the small, square toolbox and closed it. He attached it to his hip with a strip of velcro, grabbed the EMU controls and boosted himself with a blast of air to the topside of the Zhanshi. Upon reaching the top he stuck the toolbox to the ship, tethered himself and adjusted his position with the EMU so that he floated with his back facing the faint ambient light of the Sun. He tilted his head to the right and groped around with his lips for his water nozzle. He found it, took a long drink from the hidden water pouch and leaned down to the neck area of his suit. He bit into a fruit bar wrapped in rice paper he had wedged into a small slit beneath the helmet connection ring. He chewed thoughtfully as he peered through the debris of the asteroid belt in the direction of Jupiter, who was somewhere else on his orbit and nowhere to be seen.

The music within his helmet paused as his playlist ended, and a new one took its place. Duo immediately recognized the song as one that Heero had chosen for its BPM and melodic content when he first started training to effectively interface with ZERO. His lover had been methodical about his choices, but in the end Duo enjoyed every track and liked to think they meant something more than just 4/4 time and music math.

 _"_ _If I could save time in a bottle,_

 _The first thing that I'd like to do,_

 _Is to save every day,_

 _'Til eternity passes away_

 _Just to spend them with you." +_

He recognized the song as Jim Croce's "Time in a Bottle". He closed his eyes and let the alternating plucking of acoustic guitar dance over his ears. The singer's soothing, poignant voice slipped over his body. The song picked up his sadness and forced it up to the surface of his thoughts to form a dark blue, flickering orb. He faced it, took a deep breath and let his mind envelope the sadness with the glowing, pink warmth of a memory; Heero sitting at his laptop with his "mission mode" face as he uploaded this song onto his media player. It felt like an eternity ago that they were doing such simple, normal things like that.

This was the first time that he had stopped moving since he woke up. Training on Wing-One NEU had been a blast and had put him in a positive mood. He needed that. He needed to feel like he had accomplished something today. When Wufei began complaining about the damage Duo had caused his ship he had jumped at the chance to make it up to him. His spacewalk had lasted nearly six hours now. He was tired and he needed to to take a leak, but he could bring himself to go inside.

 _"_ _If I could make days last forever,_

 _If words could make wishes come true_

 _I'd save every day like a treasure and then,_

 _Again, I would spend them with you."_

The asteroid belt was drab and boring. Other than the occasional loose rocks banging together there was hardly anything of interest out there, but he kept finding himself drawn to the darkness beyond it. He shrugged, opened his eyes and took another bite of the bland fruit bar.

 _Give me a sign. Tell me where you are. I'm listening._ he thought hopefully. He closed his eyes again and felt the tether tug lightly against the waist of his spacesuit. He wondered if he thought hard enough if Heero could hear him. Weirder things could happen, right? He was getting desperate and had run out of options. Quatre's facial scanning system hadn't detected anything so far. There were no signs of Heero or his captors on any of the videos they had collected. No ransom call or note. Nothing. Aside from calling a psychic or throwing a message in a bottle out into open space Duo had done everything he could think of to find his lover.

 _"But there never seems to be enough time_

 _To do the things you want to do_

 _Once you find them_

 _I've looked around enough to know_

 _That you're the one I want to go_

 _Through time with"_

When he had bonded and joined with Heero through Wing-One Duo had been convinced that he had touched Heero's soul. He felt closer to him than to anyone. He knew what Heero's thoughts sounded like from inside his head. Duo got to hear how Heero perceived his voice. He had experienced how Heero felt from within as he became drunk with pleasure when they had bonded and had sex while connected to Wing-One. He knew the guy inside and out, so would the idea of having felt the very essence of his lover's being be such a farfetched idea?

 _"If I had a box just for wishes_

 _And dreams that had never come true,_

 _The box would be empty_

 _Except for the memory_ _  
_ _Of how they were answered by you..."_

The only problem with having connected with someone so deeply was that their absence became more noticeable. Duo felt like he was merely a fraction of who he had once been before bonding with his friend. Now he felt inadequate without him around. It was like having half of a hug; one arm draped limply over a shoulder without the complete circle of a true embrace. He felt loose, detached and strangely empty. He was sad, upset, and scared that he'd never see him again, but those feelings now served as fuel for his determination to find him.

He opened his eyes and saw a distant star wink encouragingly at him. From his peripheral vision he spotted movement to his right and turned to see Haro and Demo floating close together beside him. He blinked and smiled once he realized they were holding hands.

* * *

 **Footnotes:**

 *** Kiai: "short yell or shout uttered when performing an attacking move."- Wiki**

 **^ Bolley Kick/540 Kick: "In martial arts the 540 kick (Chinese:旋風腳 ( _Xuanfengjiao_ )) (also known as inside turning kick , jump inside kick , and tornado kick ) is a jump kick move. It involves a rotation of approximately 540 degrees (although when performed correctly the performer has only done a spin of 360 degrees – not including whatever takeoff used)". - Wiki**


	55. Chapter 55

**Part One**

Heero regained consciousness as he was dragged through the main hall by two NR-CLO soldiers back to his room. He could feel the toes of his boots slide against the floor and felt the rough, strong hands of his captors as they clutched tightly at his upper arms. His neck throbbed and he felt the deep tissue burn of newly formed bruises beneath the now loose collar.

Once they entered his room the two men tossed him unceremoniously to the floor. He landed hard on his side and his head bounced off of the hard grey, polished resin. He hadn't tried to catch himself to break his fall. His arms and legs felt heavy and unresponsive. He wasn't sure if the dullness of his senses was merely a physiological response, or a direct result of his crippling mental shock.

The door slammed closed behind him and he could hear the faint, receding echo of two sets of boots as they pounded down the hallway. He knew that he was alone except for the all-seeing eye from the ceiling above. His palms were unusually hot and sweaty and an uncomfortable, almost painful tingle agitated his fingers and toes. His chest ached and he couldn't seem to find his natural rhythm for breathing. He gasped as his body reflexively curled into itself to assume the fetal position.

His mind was frantic with flurries of panicked thoughts. _They've done this again. I can't escape this cycle. This will never end. I can never do enough. I can't stop this. Why is this happening?_

His abdominal muscles contracted and he swallowed back the acid that threatened the back of his throat. He closed his eyes tightly in an attempt to block out his current setting. Having been forced into this room and made to face his past only exacerbated his anxiety. Heero hadn't experienced a full on anxiety attack in years. He had occasionally had them as a kid; it was a typical byproduct of his stressful training. In that time he had been taught to handle the occasional stress and anxiety overload by focusing on something else. His trainers had told him to focus on objects, smells or feelings and count them off.

He cracked open his two-tone eyes and tried to find something in the room to focus on. Unfortunately there was nothing but the bed and computer console. The sight of the bare, utilitarian room forced his anxiety to metastasize as a lump in his throat. He closed his eyes again and crossed his arms over his heaving chest and attempted to force his mind to think of something else.

The first image that came to mind was that of his shared cabin back on the Lennon. The room he and Duo shared was in stark contrast to this bare room from his childhood, but only because of his partner being an element within it. Duo's things were always everywhere. It used to annoy Heero, but eventually he had learned to appreciate the comfort of a "lived-in" space. He could see Duo's shoes tossed carelessly in the corner, his lover's black Motorhead t-shirt lying crumpled on the table, a half-eaten bag of pretzels ripped open and surrounded by crumbs. He could smell the chypre citrus scent of Duo's deodorant over the intense, almond and musk smell of his partner's used gym clothes lying on the bed.

Duo's laptop was open on the desk with his personal pictures cycling across the monitor as a screensaver. Many of the photos had been taken during the year Heero was under cryostasis. A picture of Duo in a black tuxedo flanked by Quatre and Trowa in matching white suits illuminated the monitor. His partner was smiling broadly into the camera while holding a bouquet of pink and yellow flowers he had caught at their wedding. The next picture was of Hilde holding a taco, her mouth agape with her emerald eyes wide as if Duo had caught her off guard mid-bite. There was an image of Howard in a blue, yellow and white floral Hawaiian shirt standing on the beach, smoking a cigar and grinning from ear to ear in front of a pink and purple setting sun.

The next photograph was of Heero in Preventer uniform seated beside Relena in a cream sundress at an outdoor cafe. Relena had been in attendance of a peace summit on L1 while they were on assignment for Preventer nearby. Duo had dropped him off in the rental car so Heero could visit with her, but before he left he had insisted that they lean in close and smile for the camera.

Heero's body relaxed as he recalled the lunch with Relena, and how she had asked Duo to stay but he had insisted that they go on their date without him.

Heero had always known how Duo felt about him. The unresolved tension was always there. Heero had been in a relationship with Relena at the time, and despite the occasional draped arm over a shoulder or a playful back slap Duo had been respectful of the boundaries between them, but Heero had known. He had always known.

 **Part Two**

"I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have snapped at ya." Duo said sincerely. He shifted his weight from one black booted foot to the other as he stood awkwardly in the doorway to Hilde's cabin. Milo had come out from his hiding place beneath her desk to rub his butt and plum of tail happily against his legs. He smirked at the cat and knelt down to pick it up. The furry ball of tabby nuzzled his chin affectionately.

"Yeah, well, you should be." Hilde snapped, though her face wore a forgiving smile. She stood up from her seat on her bed and threw up her hands with frustration. "Ugh, you're so infuriating sometimes."

"I know-I know. I'm sorry. What do I gotta do to make it up to you?" Duo asked with a grin. "Back massage? Your laundry? Cook you dinner? I make a mean frozen pizza."

"Oh God no, that last back massage left me bruised for weeks!" Hilde said with a laugh. She closed the distance between them and scratched between Milo's ears affectionately. "I don't need anything from you, other than a promise."

Duo blinked. "Promise?"

"Yes. Promise you'll stop keeping things from me? I know it's your thing, and that you do it all the time, but when you act like nothing's wrong, and then you snap at everyone else and become a total asshole all it does it hurt you and everyone around you," Hilde explained with a frown. Duo felt like shit.

He knew that he couldn't deny that that was his pattern. Hilde knew him best, and he knew that as a true friend she wouldn't hold back on him about what he had been doing, and how it had hurt her. Even though her words hurt he knew it was what he needed to hear. He sighed and squeezed the limp and purring cat against his chest.

"I wish I could promise you that I will," he said with a frown. "All I can promise you is that I'll try."

Hilde smirked and reached up to press her palms against his cheeks and squished his face until his lips formed like that of a fish.

"Stop being so adorably angsty, will you? Let everyone help you! We'll find Heero. He's out there waiting for you to swoop in and be his knight in ebony Gundanium, so stop-" squish, "-being-" smoosh, "-so-" squeeze, "-bummed. Have confidence in us!"

Duo sighed through his deformed lips and nodded his head between her hands. "Yeeaaash m'aaahmmm."

 **Part Three**

Two days had passed since Heero had attacked the clone. In those two days he had received nothing to eat aside from a single one thousand calorie protein paste and a handful of water pouches. The lack of sustenance wasn't what concerned him, but rather the decision the NR-CLO would come up with concerning his future. He knew that he had acted rashly when he attacked the clone they called Gamma. He had done what he thought was right at the time. However, after two days of isolation he had plenty of time to reflect on the situation as a whole.

He finished washing his hands and exited the water closet from the narrow, hidden door on the left wall of his room. Once in the center of the small space he dropped down onto his hands and toes and began pushing quickly against the floor. There was nothing else to do, and he couldn't allow his muscles to atrophy while being captive. Not when so much depended on them in the event of an opportunity for escape.

As he performed his countless push-ups his mind wandered back to his clone. Gamma was only a boy, but his strikes had the power behind them of a grown man. Heero felt the faint soreness of his forearms from the bruises he had received in defense against him. He bent his elbows and dropped until he was only centimeters away from the floor. He paused and held that position for a few seconds before slowly pushing against his hands to lift himself up. He stiffened his arms and locked his elbows and then stared down at the spot between his hands. He felt a twinge of guilt form and stab against his chest.

He had attacked Gamma because he felt that he had no right to exist ,because he was a weapon and a threat to peace. He could say the same about himself. He was trained in the same way the boy was. Heero had even less of a right to live than the child did. He had killed countless civilians and soldiers. He was a murderer. He had become a true weapon. He had saved many lives, yes, but at the expense of others.

The kid had done nothing wrong. He was a victim of his circumstances. He hadn't asked to be created. He hadn't asked to be trained and turned into what he was. He was an innocent, and Heero had decided before now that he wouldn't kill anyone he deemed innocent.

He dropped to the floor and frantically began to push his anxiety and stress out through his arms. He could feel his pectoral muscles begin to stiffen and burn with each shove.

He couldn't kill Gamma. He couldn't punish him for what the NR-CLO had done to him. He couldn't allow him to stay here, either.

Heero decided that when he made his escape, he would take Gamma with him. It was only a matter of time before an opportunity for escape presented itself and when it did he wouldn't hesitate to take it. The question was whether the kid would go willingly or not.

He continued doing push-ups until his arms began to feel dull with exhaustion. He stood up and stretched his shoulders, arms and rolled his neck muscles. He glanced down at the computer and then up at the camera eye above him. Every time he had tried to touch the computer the collar started to contract and threatened to strangle him into unconsciousness. He didn't know how the collar clasped at the back of his neck. If he touched it or tried to explore it too much it would choke him. He wished he had paid closer attention to it when the soldier had first walked around behind him to put it on.

He grabbed the second to last of his remaining water pouches, flicked the plastic lid from the built-in valve and sucked down a few mouthfuls before he tossed it on the bed again and dropped down to the floor to lie on his back. He sat up, bent his knees and proceeded to do as many sit-ups as he could while he traced a mental map of the complex.

 **Part Four**

"Still nothin' on the scanners, huh?" Duo asked with a frown as he approached Trowa from behind with Haro and Demo in tow. The former Heavyarms pilot was sitting on one of the white, plush couches in front of a large, rectangular picture window in the observation deck. He looked up as Duo approached and nodded his head in greeting.

"Nothing. Sorry," Trowa said quietly. He gestured to the empty spot beside him on the couch. Duo fell heavily into the couch next to him and stretched his legs out in front of him. He rubbed at the tension that had built up at the back of his neck and sighed. Haro couldn't contain its excitement at the sight of Trowa. It rolled happily to his feet, shot out a cable arm to grab his knee and launched itself up into the former Heavyarms pilot's lap.

"IKEMAN, TROWA! MISS TROWA!" Haro said brightly.

"Shit… now what?" He asked. He glanced down to see that Demo had settled between his legs on the floor. Trowa smirked and rested a hand gently on top of the flapping, crooning Haro and shrugged a shoulder casually.

"I don't know. I don't have the answers. The only thing I can think to do is wait. Heero will find a way to tell us where he is. We just have to be ready to act when that happens." Trowa turned his face from his study of the asteroid belt beyond the window to watch him. Duo glanced at him, cupped his hands against the back of his neck and folded his arms behind his head. He slumped back deeply into the couch with an air of defeat.

"This is killin' me. I'm running out of stuff to do. I've fixed the Zan's generators, organized Howard's Sweeper scrap hoard by type, color and size, changed Milo's litter box, folded Hilde's laundry, helped Wufei prune his weird miniature orange trees, listened to Doctor J tell me all of his weird stories about goin' to school with that Pacifist Heero Yuy, polished all of the floors, checked all of Lucifer's cockpit transistors, and scrubbed all the shower stalls. There is nothin' else I can do. I am going bananas over here," Duo rambled. "Fuck. Every time I stop and look at my watch I begin to think about how they say you gotta find someone within the first 48 hours, otherwise you only got a 50/50 chance of seeing 'em again," his voice died away as it was strangled by the pervasive tightness of his throat.

Trowa nodded and extended a hand out to touch his elbow. Duo blinked and tilted his head to better look at him.

"He's alive. You know Heero, he won't go down without a fight. Nothing can kill that guy," Trowa said as a slight smile ghosted over his lips.

"Nothin' can kill him, but me." Duo chuckled. "Sometimes I have dreams about that. That he was drawn to be because I loved death so much. I dunno, it's stupid-"

"No. Tell me," Trowa said as he turned on the couch to face him.

Duo dropped his arms from behind his head and rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger. He hadn't thought about this in a long time.

"The first time I heard him say something was when we were on the battlefield. I was really gettin' into it, yellin' and just talkin' out my ass about being the 'God of Death'. It was a hard fight, shit ton of Leos and Aries comin' at us from all directions. He was behind me. I remember hearin' his voice over the COM say something and when I asked what he said he was like, 'I've finally found a Shinigami.' I didn't know that a 'Shinigami' was a kind of god of death at the time…" he rubbed the side of his neck and yawned before he crossed his arms tightly over his chest. "The way he said it… it was like he was hoping that I'd kill him. I dunno, this all sounds really dumb when I put it to words, but it felt like he was relieved that death had found him. Like I would be the death of him or something. I mean… I almost was. If Relena hadn't freaked out on me when I shot him and made me pull him out of that water he probably woulda."

"After he self-detonated that one time and Cathy and I saved him he seemed frustrated with me," Trowa said slowly. "Like he didn't need my help, or that he didn't want it. That he wanted us to just leave him there to die."

Duo blinked and stared at him wide-eyed. He hadn't known any of this before. He knew that Trowa had taken care of Heero and helped him mend, but Heero hadn't given him any other details about that interaction.

"Maybe he was suicidal when he first came to Earth? That's the only thing I can think of. Oi…. oioioioiiiii…." Duo said loudly as he rubbed his face with his hands. "That guy. He was insane. Seriously, he used to scare the shit out of me."

Trowa chuckled. "Me too."

"And me as well," Wufei said from behind them. Duo turned to his left and saw the Chinese man as he rounded the arm of the couch. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against it. Duo was surprised to see he was wearing nothing but a white t-shirt, blue track pants and white running sneakers. His shoulder length black hair was free from its usual ponytail. He was peering through his round glasses out at the drab asteroids Duo smirked at him.

"So you tested those field generators?" He asked.

"You know that I did." Wufei replied.

"And? Well? Tell me I'm fuckin' amazing and that I did a good job, because I know you wanna." Duo said playfully. The former Shenlong pilot sighed and tilted his head down to regard him with a raised eyebrow.

"They would not have sustained those damages had someone decided not to use my ship as a scratching post," Wufei replied with a smug expression. Duo grinned and playfully swat his leg. The former Shenlong pilot huffed as if he were annoyed, but his face had betrayed him by displaying his amusement through a smile.

"I was cracked out of my mind, okay? Seriously, you joined up Mariemaia that one time and nobody keeps throwin' that shit in your face," Duo exclaimed facetiously.

"He has a point," Trowa added with a chuckle. Wufei rolled his eyes and sighed.

 **Part Five**

Heero waited as Luna Armonia and her sister took their seats across the table from him in the conference room. Soris wore her usual malicious smile, and Luna her placid and indifferent one. Once they had settled in their seats Commander Armonia locked her deep brown eyes on him.

"I am disappointed that you would attack project Gamma, considering you had agreed to train him," she said cooly. "Our organization has worked tirelessly on that project for years, and you attempted to cancel that order. Why?"

Heero straightened in his chair and narrowed his eyes on the woman. "You sit there and chastise me for trying to kill it, when you were the one who used my DNA without my permission to create something that, quite frankly, is an abomination. That child shouldn't exist, and the types of training you are so proud of are nothing more than psychological and physical abuse."

Soris cackled and ran her hand through her blond and red tinted hair. "You of all people shouldn't be lecturing us about morals. We know what you've done, and how many people you've killed, Beta. So stop trying to convince everyone that you're all high and mighty when you're not," she said in an accusatory, hissing tone.

"You're right. I'm not perfect, and I haven't always been moral," Heero said slowly. He locked eyes with Soris. "I've done horrible things, but now I'm trying to live my life in a way that makes up for the crimes I've committed. What I don't understand is why you're here, and what you hope to accomplish by creating that boy. Operation Meteor is over. The colonies and the Earth-Sphere have unified. Aside from the small, occasional movements of power-hungry human beings there's no need for widespread violence. There is no need for war. Nobody's oppressed. Who do you intend on attacking with him? What is your goal?"

"As if we'd tell you all of that in some sort of villainous monologue!" Soris yelled across the table at him. She smiled widely and leaned back against her chair. "You couldn't possibly understand now. You've drunk the kool-aid. You're one of those soppy, pathetic peace lovers."

Heero scowled. "How could you want war? How could you, as a human being, seek out the suffering of others? The only conclusion that I have come up with for your thirst for violence is that you're a megalomaniac, or that you work for one," he said darkly. He leaned forward and locked eyes with Luna Armonia, who was watching him mutely from beside her sister with a grim frown.

"You idolize an ideal that no longer needs to exist. There's no need for any violence against the Earth. The Earth exists to support the colonies and vice versa. The colonies and the planet have a symbiotic arrangement now. There's no dictator. There are no oppressors. Why are you doing this?" Heero felt strangely calm as he confronted his captors. He had come to accept that there were only two options left for him now. He could walk out of the conference room with their confidence and train his clone, or he would be dragged out dead. He knew he was pushing his limits, but he recalled seeing the glint of excitement in Commander Armonia's eye when she spoke of the CLO and her new resistance organization. She cared about whatever it was she was backing. Despite her flat affect she had passion for it. If he could appeal to her love for her work he knew he would be able to get her to talk openly about it.

"Despite what your opinions are of me and what I am now, I'm satisfied with the path that I've chosen. I believe in peace through limited force and non-violent means. I don't understand what your motivations are, here. Please… if I'm going to help you, I need to know your mission." Heero said slowly. "Why are you here? Who are you working for? Why have you cloned me?"

"You've already fucked up, guy. It's over. You're too much of a hassle to have around, so we're just gonna kill ya and-" Soris began, but was cut short by her sister as she lifted a white gloved hand. Luna Armonia's dark, nut-brown eyes were locked in a staring match with Heero's. His bionic implant zoomed onto her face and detected her pupils as they dilated.

"You must be familiar with Newtypes," the commander began. Soris grumbled something incoherently before she rested irritably in her seat.

"I am," Heero replied tersely.

"And you are aware that you are considered to be one. There are so many of us now, but back when you were first born there were only fifty-two confirmed cases," Armonia stated plainly. "It is how the mobile suit pilots are chosen. How the Gundam pilots were chosen. My sister and I were chosen before you and your comrades to be the pilots for Operation Meteor. However, our abilities were limited. We couldn't handle the interface with ZERO, which was how you came into the picture. They had your information as well as screenings for the other four pilots. When they terminated us from the program they sought you all out and trained you instead," she explained. Heero knew that they were former pilots, but he hadn't known why they had switched from the Armonia sisters and their associates to himself and his friends.

"'Newtype' is a word from urban legend. The correct term for what you are is a 'Synergist'. Our scientists have experimented with these concepts out here in space for years, while institutions on the planet deny our existence. Synergists are here, we have evolved here in space. The Terrans on Earth won't accept us…" she appeared distant as if deep in thought. Heero felt his anger stoke white hot at her words.

"There is no them and us. There is no difference. I'm not a Synergist. I'm not a Newtype. I am a human being. We all are. What you're suggesting is a race war," Heero said with a snarl. Soris was grinning wickedly at him.

Luna looked down at her hands and nodded with a smile. "That's exactly what we're saying."


	56. Chapter 56

**Part One**

"Huh, so lemme get this straight," Duo said as he ran his finger across the bottom line of the final paragraph of the contract. "If I buy it outright, they can't take it back or anything like that later on? I mean, L2 had custody of Hilde's scrap yard. Who's to say that if some shit goes down in the future they won't just show up and snag this thing, too? I wanna know that this will be a lasting investment. I'm tired of the L2 government fuckin' me out of my money and keepin' it out of the hands of the people it was intended for."

Quatre nodded and tapped the top of his pen casually against the recreation room tabletop as Duo skimmed over the proposal for the thousandth time and frowned. Duo knew the other man was getting frustrated with him. He glanced up from the fine print to study the former Sandrock pilot. Quatre was seated across the table from him in an Ouroboros uniform suit. He looked tired, but that seemed to be his default lately. Duo felt bad for him. Quatre always did for everyone else, even at the expense of himself and his personal needs. The guy was too damn giving. He decided that he would have to think of something nice to do for him after this was all over to thank him.

He turned his face back down to the blurry words on the paper in front of him. He was never one for paperwork or red tape and had always gone out of his way to pawn such things off on Heero while they were partners at Preventer. Now he didn't have that luxury. The thought of his missing lover began to cast a dark shadow over his optimism for the future. He blew out an exasperated sigh and gestured for Quatre's pen. The blond man complied with a warm smile. He twisted it open and hovered over the signature line.

The plan to buy the lot where Maxwell Church had once stood came to light while he was helping Hilde work out the legalities of the seizure of her property by the authorities on L2. Now that Preventer had worked out a deal with the ESUN with the local colony governments all of their previous warrants and restrictions were now gone from their records. Duo didn't know how the hell they managed that, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Duo had plenty of resources to pull from. He had money from his work with the Sweeper Group that Professor G had helped him to invest before he left for Operation Meteor. That, along with some of the funds allotted to him by the ESUN as a 'reward' for his work during the Eve War, simply sat around and collected interest. The only big things he had ever purchased were his Mustang and the scrap yard. Hilde finally got her scrap yard back, but sadly the Shelby had vanished into oblivion.

L2 needed the money desperately, and so when he went to bid on the lot where the memorial had once stood he dropped a number they simply couldn't refuse. Quatre had even managed to get the zoning laws changed so that he could make it into whatever he wanted it to be.

Duo didn't know what he was going to do with it yet, but he knew that he wanted to turn it into something that would pay tribute to the people who had lost their lives during the church massacre. He wanted it to be something people could enjoy, and that would improve the surrounding area and bring money to the local economy. He wanted to improve the quality of life on L2, and he knew that buying this empty lot would be a good first step.

He pursed his lips in determination and signed his long angular jagged scrawl on the dotted line.

 **Part Two**

Heero felt like he had traveled back in time as he stood face to face with his clone. The boy was identical to his former ten year-old self in every way except for his hair, which had been shaved down until there was hardly anything left but a faint dark fuzz. He wore short, white ankle boots and a matching white flight suit with a green Greek gamma symbol embroidered on the left side of his narrow chest. He looked particularly weak and fragile as he stood in front of him awaiting his orders, though Heero knew firsthand how strong and sturdy the child truly was.

Heero couldn't believe he was in the MO-V Gundam pilot training room again. He had expected the Armonia sisters to sentence him to death for his former threat against the clone, but it appeared that they were desperate to have him train the child. He had lied to them when he had said that he would help them, but his statement about feeling personally responsible for the clone was no deception. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to take him from away this place.

Heero had recently explored index of his own memories after Aurora had suppressed them. Having done so put his own life into better perspective and made him more aware of what he had missed out on. He never had a real childhood. He never had a chance to grow up outside of CLO influence, war and violence. This kid was being trained for a mission he had yet to initiate. As far as Heero could tell from the limited files they had given him on Gamma, he hadn't engaged in an actual battle. Most of his experience centered around simulation and occasionally piloting a mystery mobile suit. He had yet to engage a real enemy.

Heero hoped that the odds would be in his favor. He knew he couldn't save Gamma from everything that had happened to him, but he hoped that he could intervene before he could be scarred any deeper.

"Plyometric drills," Heero instructed. The glare on Gamma's face transformed into a look of irritated determination. He turned around and made his way to the workout area of his training room. Heero crossed his arms over his white tank top covered chest and narrowed his eyes at his back.

"Respond?" He prompted coolly.

"Sir." Gamma paused and looked over his shoulder with no expression at all. "Yes, sir."

Heero nodded in approval and followed him into the workout area. The boy immediately gravitated to the farthest wall to a three foot tall weighted crate where he began to square his shoulders and feet with his hips. The crate itself was more than half of Gamma's height.

"How many sets?" Gamma asked without looking at him. "Sir?"

"Until I tell you to stop," Heero replied as he approached him from behind. He saw the kid hesitate before he squatted low, paused and then vaulted onto the box. He landed with both feet flat and even on the top, paused and then jumped back to the floor to repeat the process.

Heero sighed and glanced over his shoulder at the two armed guards who stood inside the entrance of the gleaming white training quarters. He still had yet to figure out how he was going to make his escape.

 **Part Three**

"I'm sorry! Milo! Hey!" Duo's voice echoed down the main passageway of the Lennon as he slid around a corner on his socked feet in pursuit of a very wet, very angry tabby cat. He ran into the wall as he drifted the turn, scrambled to gain his footing and darted after the cat.

"NEKO, MAD! NEKO NO LIKE BATH!" Haro exclaimed as it rolled and bounced along behind him.

"Tsch, now you tell me? How else was I gonna get that shit out of his fur? He shouldn't have laid on my lollipop," he said breathlessly as he followed the trail of wet feline footprints down the unoccupied residency corridor of the ship. Each door he passed was covered with thick, transparent cellophane seals to keep dust and debris from traveling through the unused, sterile rooms. Duo knew that rooms on ships that were not in use were often sealed up to save resources and to keep from wasting environmental atmosphere. The Lennon could house much more than their meager crew, so many of the rooms on this wing were sealed off until they were needed. The only time Duo had ever come down this way before was to perform maintenance checks.

Milo had vanished and soon his damp footprints were no longer detectable. Duo stopped running, put his hands on his hips and sighed in defeat. He soon realized his that body was cold. The unused wing of the ship was kept at a cooler temperature to keep mold and bacteria from flourishing in the undisturbed quarters. His breath hung faintly in front of his lips as it passed into the chill, crisp dry air. His black Misfits t-shirt and basketball shorts did very little to insulate him from the bitter chill. He shuddered and threw his hands up.

"Forget it, cat. I hope you're smart enough to come back in the room before you turn into a fuzzy ice pop," he grumbled as he turned on his heels and stalked back in the direction of his cabin. He heard a yowl from behind him followed by the sensation of a thick, wet wad of hair scampering between his legs. He tripped and fell onto his hands and knees as the cat tangled between his feet, broke loose and ran down the hall in the direction of the livable cabins. Haro had wailed and rolled out of the way before Duo could fall on him.

"BAKA NEKO! BAKA NEKO!" Haro scolded as it blinked its red eyes and swiveled next to his face. Duo frowned and as he pushed himself up to his feet he saw that the seal around the edges of the door to his right were broken. He hopped lightly to his feet and inched closer to inspect it. The thick tape-like seal was cut cleanly all the way around the door. He poked the glowing blue panel beside it. It opened with a hiss and the room within slowly illuminated. He stopped just within the door frame and gawked.

Its layout was identical to the rest of the ship's cabins. A bed was pressed against the left wall, and a desk had been built into the wall to the right. There was a water closet in the far left corner. Everything seemed identical to his own cabin except that the walls in this room were lined with a thick, dark grey foam. From floor to ceiling rolls of foam were applied to every surface. In the center of the room was a halfway assembled drum set.

"What the hell?" He whispered as he hesitantly made his way to the pile of hollow drums and retractable stands. The set was brown and black with a smoky accent along the sides of the bass and snare drums. It's chrome accents gleamed in the dim light. As Duo approached it he saw a pair of drumsticks resting parallel on top of a snare drum along with a small, folded piece of paper and a pen. He snatched the paper and opened it to see Heero's neat and compact square handwriting.

 ** _"Duo, will you f-"_ ** was written inside the fold. It appeared as if the message was incomplete.

 _He did all of this for me?_

He dropped to his knees and stared at his name written in Heero's handwriting. Ever since Heero had vanished from the Lunar Mall he had tried to keep it together. He had tried to feel as optimistic as he acted, but deep down beneath his casual, carefree mask he was hurting and with each day that passed without word of Heero's whereabouts his hurt turned more acidic. It gradually ate away at the inside of his mask until it had managed to break the surface in the form of tears. His heavy, saline tears trailed hotly down the cool flesh of his cheeks and began to gather within the neck of his black t-shirt. He had fallen apart in Trowa's arms, but now he was crumbling to pieces.

A sudden, tight pressure filled his chest and he felt like he couldn't breathe. He reflexively gasped in an attempt to catch his breath and desperately clutched the half-written letter against his chest.

His heart was bursting with a painful discord of intense love and bitter hopelessness, and his mind surged with dark, depressing thoughts. He wanted to believe that Trowa was right and that Heero was still alive. He wanted to have faith in the technologies that they had at their disposal. He wanted to believe in Heero's ability and will to live, but the thirty-eight beads of the rosary tattoo on his forearm served as a blunt reminder that Death would come and reap its harvest, no matter how much hope he had for holding on to those he loved.

 _He's gotta be dead. He shoulda been back by now. I can't keep sittin' here pretending like everything's going to be okay. Heero wouldn't be sittin' here pokin' around the ship bathing a cat, he'd be out there lookin' for me._

He covered his mouth with the palm of his free hand in an attempt to stifle the now violent, raspy gasps that shook his body. He was ashamed of himself for smiling and laughing with the others while his friend needed him. Heero was his best friend, and someone that he had fought alongside through some of the darkest and most chaotic moments of his life. He couldn't imagine a world without his brooding, stern-faced, beautiful, sensitive, and thoughtful lover. Heero gave him purpose and hope for the future of the Earth-Sphere. He loved him. It wasn't just idol worship or infatuation with what he had done for the colonies and for Earth. He loved his flaws and imperfections just as much as he loved what he stood for and fought for. In the past he had been smitten with the boy pilot, but he knew now that he had grown to love man Heero had become. He loved him for everything that he was and was not.

 _I gotta find him. Clearly he can't signal us… even if it is just his body. I need to find him._

"DUO? DUO?" He heard Haro croon softly through his strangled sobs. The orange, robotic sphere nudged his thigh and worriedly chirped at him.

"I can't stand this. I gotta get outta here," he blurted, sniffed and pushed himself to his feet. "I can't just sit around here anymore. I'm going insane."

"INSANE! DUO INSANE!" Haro parroted happily as it dashed madly toward the door. Duo wiped his leaking eyes with the back of his tattooed forearm, sucked in a shaken breath and followed it out the door with Heero's note clutched tightly in hand.

 **Part Four**

"Your reflexes are outstanding, but because you're so quick to make a decision you come off as impulsive, and some of your choices inefficient. You need to be more thoughtful with your decisions. It's okay to pause and consider your alternatives. Don't rely too much on your battle system to compensate for you and correct your smaller errors. I don't know much about this system, but if it's anything like the ZERO system I trained on, you'll need to maintain a calm and thoughtful focus. You must guide the system. Its only function is to show you outcomes, it is you who must choose the path that defines your mission." Heero explained to his clone from the steps that led to the now open training simulation POD.

Gamma cradled his white, reflective helmet between his hands and stared down as if hesitant to look at him. Heero crossed his arms over his own white flight suited chest and sighed.

"It's something you'll learn with practice. Just be mindful. That's all you can do," he tried to reassure his smaller self. He didn't want to crush Gamma's spirit, but he also didn't want to be dishonest with him. He didn't care for the idea of training this boy on their undefined battle system, but he knew that he had to bide his time until he could find a way to contact Ouroboros. He also had to admit that he was intrigued with their system and the simulator. After Gamma had finished his morning workout and had lunch they had gone over some basic calculations, discussed some colony history and then began simulation testing. Heero was impressed with his piloting abilities. He was well-spoken for a ten year-old and he found himself forgetting just how young his clone actually was. Gamma spoke as if he were in his late teens, had a vast vocabulary and to Heero's surprise a sense of humor. He had caught him off guard a few times with a couple of dry, sarcastic quips.

That hint of humanity gave Heero hope that if he could get Gamma off of MO-V he would be easier to rehabilitate. His clone seemed more comfortable with the process of training than Heero had when he was around his age. However, Heero wasn't born into the program. He had a mother and father and the beginnings of a relatively normal childhood. This boy had been created and grown here on MO-V. He didn't know anything else.

"I'll improve. May I try another simulation?" Gamma asked eagerly. He looked up at Heero with his dark, prussian blue eyes and pursed his lips as he waited for his reply. Heero got the sense that the boy had beocome desperate to please him. When Heero had first arrived that morning to work with him, Gamma was cold and aloof. As the day went on his expressions began to soften. Now he was acting more like a typical child should. He obeyed his authority out of respect, not out of fear or because he was a mindless, brainwashed drone.

"Once more," Heero conceded. He saw the corner of the boy's mouth perk before it vanished within his helmet. The split down the center of the white POD closed as the two sides of the egg-shaped capsule pressed together to become one. Heero took a step back as the hollow, metallic thrum of the nanomachines beneath the simulation POD grew louder. The capsule lifted from the platform upon a cloud of azure particles and began to twist and spin as Gamma manipulated the controls from within.

Heero took the steps down to the main floor, approached the control console to the right of the simulator and took a seat in front of three monitors. One displayed what Gamma was seeing through his helmet. He was taking on a large, fictional battle cruiser flanked by two dozen mobile suits that were similar to the MS Virgo. The next monitor displayed a scrolling list of control inputs. It was the raw data that showed every button push and pedal stomp Gamma made, along with the measured reaction time of each movement. The last monitor showed Gamma's physiological statistics such as heart rate, blood pressure and neural activity. Heero could see that like himself Gamma's neural gamma wave readouts were above that of a normal human.

He rested heavily into the chair and unzipped the neck of his flight suit until it was open halfway down the center off his chest and exposed the white tank top he wore underneath. He rubbed the side of his now exposed neck and glanced to his left at the door. The two guards posted there that morning were now gone in exchange for a fresh pair. The guard to the right of the door was staring at the simulator as it bobbed and spun on its axis, while the other glanced in Heero's direction with a raised eyebrow. Heero narrowed his eyes and held the man's gaze until he turned away to study some hidden point beside the simulator.

Heero wondered how familiar the men were with the process of training Gamma. He glanced up at the ceiling and saw an identical 360 surveillance camera lens. It was located in the center of the room above the simulator. He wondered if whoever was watching him would be able to see what he was doing if he tried to access the ship's systems through the simulator console. He wasn't sure if this console was networked to the rest of the ship or to any communications, but he was willing to give it a try.

He rested his hands casually on the keyboard and began to cycle through the console's system menus and options for something he could use.

 **Part Five**

Duo frantically tugged at his clingy ferroelectric flight suit as he pulled its stretchy material over his naked thighs. He hopped in place and pulled the skin-tight constrictive fabric across his bare flesh with a grunt until he was covered from the waist down to his ankles. He slipped on a pair of thin, black conductive socks and shoved his feet into his matching black flight boots. He turned and quickly crossed his cabin to the desk and fumbled with the clasp on the necklace Heero had given him. After a few choice curses and frustrated huffs he managed to unclasp it. He carefully coiled it beside his laptop, along with his homemade wire ring. He couldn't wear anything beneath his flight suit while under the full effect of Wing-One Neu Immersion.

"HARO GO! HARO GO!" Haro exclaimed as it bounced and raced across the cabin. Duo nodded.

"Yeah, you're comin' with. Let's get the hell out of here, huh?" He said as he slipped out of his cabin and made his way towards the rear end of the ship to the mobile suit hangar with Haro following close behind him.

"Maxwell, there you are," Wufei's voice echoed from the main passageway behind him. Duo slowed his gait and looked over his shoulder. Wufei was on approach with a tablet in hand. He fell into step beside him and handed the it over. Duo blinked and inspected his offering.

"What the heck is this?" He said as he studied the image on the screen. It appeared to be an asteroid with some sort of facility built into it. Duo had seen similar types of construction on resource satellites just beyond L2.

"This is MO-V," Wufei explained as they made their way together to the hangar. "Wait a minute. Where are you going?" Duo felt Wufei's eyes probing his own. "You've been crying."

"Me? No, nah. This is just a little leftover lunar hayfever. Had some moon dust on my boots," he said dismissively. "I'm goin' out to find Heero."

"You can't go out by yourself," the Chinese man said firmly. "I'm going with you."

"Eh? You can't come, you haven't got one of those fancy new Wing-One n00b setups like Lucifer does. I'll be fine. I'm just gonna go explorin' a little, see if I can find anything suspicious while under cloak around the colonies. Especially L1. That was where a bunch of that stuff from L2 was goin'," Duo explained quickly as he continued his trek to the hangar.

"GO! GO!" Haro added cheerfully.

Wufei shook his head and reached out to tap image on the tablet. "There's no point in going to L1. Not now. The local authorities have that covered. This is where we need to look."

They reached the door to the hangar. Duo tilted his face down to inspect the tablet again and skimmed over the information beneath the image of the satellite.

"MO-V resource satellite. Wait a min, this says it was dismantled around the Eve War. What's the point of lookin' here if they blew it up?" He asked as he handed the tablet back to Wufei. The other man shook his head and reached out to tap the spot between Duo's eyes with his index finger. Duo blinked and stared at him.

"Use your brain for a minute and think," Wufei said with a frown. "I did some research on this place, and it turns out that the CLO once used it to train mobile suit pilots. Gundam pilots. For Operation Meteor."

Duo's jaw dropped. Wufei smirked with satisfaction at his response.

"Apparently most of the Gundam pilots who were being trained before us came from MO-V. Not only was it a resource satellite, but it also housed nearly 100,000 colonists." Wufei explained.

Duo put two and two together in his head. He counted off the facts with his fingers as he spoke. "MO-V was a colony. Luna Armonia was a former Gundam pilot. She was trained on MO-V? An asteroid out in the middle of nowhere near Jupiter would be a good place to hide. Nobody goes out that far. They could be doin' anything out there. Wait a minute, why wouldn't Professor G and Doctor J mention this fuckin' place to us?"

Wufei shrugged a shoulder. "I asked, but they're convinced that MO-V was dismantled years ago. During Operation Meteor MO-V sided with the Alliance and was responsible for the manufacture of Alliance MS Leos. It was ruled over by a smaller sect of OZ called 'OZ Prize'. They showed me an image of the airspace where it should be, and there doesn't appear to be anything there. Unless it is-"

"Cloaked! You're gonna say cloaking, right!?" Duo jumped with excitement and grabbed Wufei's shoulders with a smile. "You think they're cloakin' the whole damn colony?"

"I don't know, but it couldn't hurt to go and see it with our own eyes," the Chinese man said, his expression displayed his shock and discomfort at Duo's sudden closeness. Duo grinned from ear to ear.  
"Holy shit! Fei, you're a fuckin' genius! God, I'm so happy I could kiss you!"

"Duo, wait a mi-"

Duo could no longer restrain himself. This news was exactly what he needed today. He grabbed Wufei into a tight bear hug and before the other pilot could protest he planted a hard, enthusiastic kiss against his cheek. He pulled away and held Wufei at arm's length by the shoulders. The former Shenlong pilot's face illuminated with a fiery red glow.

"Just… get in your Gundam," Wufei grumbled weakly.

Duo struggled to tug the sleeves of his skin-tight flight suit over his arms and pulled the zipper up to his throat with enthusiasm. "This is great. This is fuckin' great. Finally, something we can work with! Fuck yes!" He exclaimed as he punched the air with a fist and jumped through the door and into the hangar.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the delay in this chapter, I've been working on a commission and it's been kicking my ass. XD Also, I started a TUMBLR blog for this fic, if you'd like to see ship designs and the science references for this story check it out at GWOUROBOROS


	57. Chapter 57

**Part One**

Heero connected to the resource satellite's main network from the training room console. It had taken some effort but somehow he managed to get a message out and broadcasted into open space. He hoped that it would reach its desired receiver. Deep down Heero had confidence in his friends. He knew Duo would find him.

He sighed and leaned back against his chair and rubbed at the tension that had built up between his eyebrows with the palm of his hand. One of the guards beside the door was watching him. He sighed, crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the monitor that displayed Gamma's battle scenario. The boy was nearly finished destroying his targets. The weapons on his system were basic: a simple beam saber and a beam rifle. Heero wished that he knew more about the mobile suit Gamma was training to pilot. As far as he could tell by the data presented to him and by the way the boy was training it appeared to have the standard abilities of any mobile suit. He could only assume that they were watering down the options because Heero was there. They didn't want him to know what they were up to.

He didn't understand that. Why would they want him to be there and why would they need him to train his clone if they weren't going to allow him to exercise all of his abilities?

Heero's frown deepened as the door to the training room opened. Commander Armonia passed through it wearing her usual placid, unaffected expression. As she approached Heero stood and turned to face her. She glanced down at the monitors before locking her deep, nut-brown eyes with his.

"How is project Gamma performing?" She asked plainly.

"Optimally," Heero replied. Armonia nodded.

"Very good. I would like to talk to you about something. Privately," she said slowly as she glanced over her shoulder at the guards. Heero's eyebrow lifted, but he made no other reply.

"Won't you come with me?" She asked casually. Heero shook his head.

"I can't leave him in the simulator unattended," he replied. Armonia frowned and shrugged her shoulders.

"What do you mean? He does this all the time without assistance," she said flatly. Heero's eyes widened at her statement. She noticed his shifting expression and sighed. "He'll be fine. He knows what he's doing. We needed you to analyze his performance for us."

"I don't understand," Heero said as his brow furrowed with confusion. "You asked me to be his trainer." The commander put her white gloves hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes on him.

"You didn't think we needed you to actually train him. He's fully trained. We needed you to analyze his status to determine where he stands as far as progression compared to that of your own. We need your opinion on whether he is capable of going into combat, and we need you to help us to make improvements to his training if you find him lacking in some way. Is he lacking, Beta?"

Heero crossed his arms tightly over his chest and glared at her. "Not as far as I can tell," he replied truthfully.

"Good. We have something else in mind. I'm sure you're familiar with this," she said as she gestured to the reprogramming servers in the medical bay behind him on the right side of the room. Heero felt his skin crawl at the sight of it.

Heero had spent many hours connected to that machine as a child. He had been an imperfect candidate, and had always believed that Doctor J had forced him through the program despite the sentiments of his trainers and the CLO organizers. They had wanted to terminate him from the program many times, but it was Doctor J who had insisted that he stay. Jay had determined that Heero was superior to his clone when he battled against Alpha for the position as pilot for Operation Meteor. He knew that machine well.

"We intend on having you and Gamma connect to this, and will transfer your focus and ability to the boy to enhance him further. In this way will you train him." Armonia explained. Heero scowled. If they fused his mind with the boy's what little innocence Gamma had would be gone forever.

Heero was tired of being used like this and it frustrated him that the only part of his person that people deemed worthy was the part he had tried to kill in himself that night in the bunker with Mariemaia. He didn't want to be a weapon anymore. He no longer blindly followed orders. Why couldn't they understand that? Why didn't anyone want to acknowledge that he wasn't the same person he was years ago when he first had descended to the planet?

"Now please, come with me." Armonia said as she turned on her booted heels and strode back to the door. Heero could do nothing but follow her. He followed her lead out through the door and into the hall. One of the guards broke off from inside the door to follow them.

 **Part Two**

"You should have at least taken a lunch with you or something. You didn't even stop in to say goodbye," Hilde complained, her face frowned up at Duo through his COM link. He released Lucifer's control bars. Haro beeped and took over auto-piloting his Gundam to MO-V's coordinates. He smiled reassuringly into the camera.

"Hey, I'm fine. Sorry about bolting out without a word. I was a little excited." Duo explained with a grin. "How about you make some more of those cookies? Fei'll love that."

"Stop trying to distract me with Wufei," Hilde said with a smirk.

"What? Heh, I wouldn't do a thing like that. So, what's going on with you two anyway?" Duo asked as conversationally as he could. Hilde shook her head and scowled into the monitor.

"Nothing! Why would you ask that?"

Duo grinned and rubbed the back of his neck with a black gloved hand. "Hey! Easy, now! I was just askin' a question! I noticed you guys were hanging out a lot lately, and I just thought…"

"Wufei Chang is a perfect gentleman. He's been assisting me around the ship, and helps me prepare food for the likes of you ungrateful-" Hilde's cheeks had begun to illuminate with a rosy tint as she rambled.

"Yeah, okay. Fine. Sorry…" he replied with a sigh. The corners of his mouth twisted to form a lopsided grin. "He is pretty cute though, isn't he? All beefy muscular like a new-age Bruce Lee. He show you his sweet tattoo yet?"

"Duo Maxwell!"

"Beep-beep-beep-beep, wheeeennnn!" Duo mimicked the sound of his target lock chimes behind a lifted hand. "OH SHIT HILDE, SORRY but I gotta go, something just popped up on the radar, love ya, catch ya later!" He reached out and smacked the COM controls to disconnect and terminate the now glaring face of his flustered friend from his monitor. He smiled and looked down at Haro who was twisting to the right and left and blinking its eye lights at him with disappointment.

"What? I was just messin' with her. Seriously, though, if she hooked up with Fei that would be a relief to me. She can't do any worse than that creep she had on L2. Ugh. How does she find these guys?" He said to the robot.

"FOUND YOU! FOUND YOU!" Haro replied with a happy squeal.

"Hey! Seriously, when did you get so snarky? How you likin' Demo, I saw you guys holdin' hands the other day…" Duo teased as he grabbed the controls to his mobile suit and took over piloting Lucifer once more.

"NO! NEVER! NO! NO HOLD HANDS!" Haro denied as it furiously waved its earflaps.

"I saw you! You were all sweet and adorable," Duo taunted. "So cuuuuutttee."

"NO! HOLD! HOLD FOR SUPPORT. NO FLOAT AWAY!" Haro protested. Duo reached out to affectionately rub the top of the robot with a gloved hand.

"I'm just glad you made a friend, and that you're not as homicidal and evil as I thought you were, is all," Duo said. Haro made an electronic purr at his touch. He grinned at him and released the controls to the mobile suit and wiggled around in his pilot seat to get comfortable. The tight ferroelectric suit provided very little as far as padding against the hard seat. He glanced to his left at the white Wing-One NEU helmet the scientists had given him. Up until this point he had piloted Gundam Lucifer manually. He didn't much care for using Wing-One, especially without Heero to bond with.

He closed his eyes and rested his head back against the headrest. His hands flopped limply against his upper thighs before they floated loosely in front of him in zero-g and yawned loudly. He knew that he should try take a nap before he got to the coordinates for MO-V, but he couldn't shut his brain down. He couldn't restrain his excitement at the idea that this may be it, and that this would lead him to Heero.

He missed him. There was just something empty and meaningless about piloting without Heero around.

He imagined the other man's face appearing through his COM where Hilde's had been. His sexy two-tone eyes narrowed with that ridiculously hot 'mission mode' determination he channeled when he was in action.

"Man, nobody should be that fuckin' hot," he said aloud. He cracked open an eye and glanced down at the Haro, which was swiveling silently on its console dock automatically piloting his mobile suit for him now that his hands had come off of the controls. He still couldn't believe that there was some small part of Heero in there. He knew it was crazy but he kind of missed Aurora. He knew it was just a fake intelligence program, but he had come to rely on that A.I. companionship for a year. Now he didn't have Heero or Aurora, which was really depressing him.

"Hey," Duo said quietly to get his robot's attention. Haro spun and locked its beady black eyes on him. "You still got that … ya know, recording? The one me an' Heero made before he went into cryo?"

The Haro beeped a few times before exclaiming, "RECORDING FOUND. PORNO. PORNO TAPE."

"Ehhh? Porno! I mean, it wasn't like that…" Duo coughed and rubbed the side of his neck before shrugging and laughing. "Okay, maybe it was. So, um…" his proverbial mental light bulb cracked and burst into flames, "you think you can play it for me?"

Haro paused and raised both of its earflaps to expose its internal speakers. The distinct, low and breathless sound of Heero's moans began to fill the cockpit. Duo could hear his own voice grunting in chorus.

"NO! Nonono, not like that!" Duo yelled over Haro's broadcast. The robot silenced and then chirped up at him with confusion. Duo rubbed his forehead with a palm and shook his head. "I dunno. Nevermind. I don't know what I'm thinkin'…. I just thought maybe you could show it to me or somethin', but that couldn't work."

"WING-ONE! WING-ONE, PATCH THROUGH, IMMERSION, SHOW DUO." Haro explained cheerfully. Duo glanced over at the white immersion helmet before he jerked his left thumb at it.

"You mean, with the 'Newb' helmet?" He asked with a grin. Haro beeped loudly.

"AFFIRMATIVE! AFFIRMATIVE!" It wailed. Duo bit the corner of his lip and considered it.

"Nah, I really shouldn't… I mean…" he said as he grabbed the immersion helmet and slammed it down over the top of his head. He peered out through the narrow front opening of the helmet and saw Haro rotate and blink excitedly on its dock. He grabbed the visor and pulled it down over his eyes. For a split second everything went dark, but then he was blinded by the Wing-One NEU system's white calibration light. He squinted against the intruding brightness.

 **Wing-One activated. Scanning. Pilot Cobra Commander, verified** , the battle system greeted in its low, smooth tone.

 _"Heh, been a little while since I've done this,"_ Duo thought-communicated to himself with a smile. _"So… Wing-One, if I want to connect to Aurora's old files, how do I go about it?"_

 **Pilot simply requests to bond with Aurora A.I. program. Bond will facilitate information exchange,** Wing-One replied. **  
****  
**_"No shit. That easy? Wait a minute… how does Haro get connected to this thing if he doesn't have a helmet?"_ Duo asked curiously through his mental connection with the program. He tried to imagine stuffing the little robot into a helmet. Would it even fit?

 **Haro unit is connected through combat and battle operating system through mobile suit centerframe delta-oh-oh-four-three-seven-two, level nine program will be defaulted and redirected. Do you need further explanation?** Wing-One asked coolly.

 _"Eh, no. Not really. Okay, so… how long until we get to the coordinates for MO-V?"_

 **Arrival to MO-V former coordinates are approximately thirty-two minutes,** the system provided.

Duo grinned. He had plenty of time to test his idea. He nodded his head and rubbed his gloved hands together eagerly.

 _"I mean… this is horrible. I really shouldn't use this amazing technology for my own pleasure, but… what the hell. Wing-One, bond, connect, or whatever you gotta do. I wanna to view the recording Haro is providing,"_ he commanded.

 **Initiating pilot-system bond with Aurora A.I.** Wing-One announced.

Duo felt a peculiar vibration shimmy his shoulders as the ferroelectric suit trembled against his skin. It squeezed the entire length of his body tightly. He had connected with Aurora plenty of times in the past, but he hadn't done so since the A.I. had transferred to the Haro.

 **Bond complete.**

The same old emptiness that was typical with connection to an artificial intelligence was still there. No organic emotion accompanied it at all.

The only way Duo could describe the difference would be to compare hugging a human body to that of a mannequin. Humans breathed and moved within your grasp. There was warmth, softness, smells and depth to it. You could hug a plastic body but it would be a one-sided affair with very little else to stimulate your senses. The effect of connecting to Haro, or more specifically with what little remained of Aurora, was the same as hugging a mannequin that repeated the phrase "I love you, I love you, I love you" over and over again.

That repetitive, shallowly presented phrase wasn't necessarily being communicated verbally. Duo didn't hear an actual voice in his head; he just knew that the sentiment was being forced through the exchange like a faint, subliminal statement. He could hear the physical Haro's muffled chirping and beeping through the immersion helmet before the screen in front of him illuminated with the familiar visual of the old Wing-One immersion interface. Unlike the NEU system, the old interface was duller and easier to look at. His entire body tensed as he felt the replay enter his mind. The bond through what was left of Aurora forced the recorded emotions, impulses, sensations and raw energy to into Duo's body simultaneously.

The system overrode and manipulated his brain and forced his body to simulate the exact chemical release he had experienced that day over a year before when he and Heero had fucked while bonded to the system. He involuntarily groaned as his entire being became enveloped in warm, thick lust. He felt Heero's presence and passion for him descend as if he were actually there with him, sitting on his lap. His brain was convinced that he was there, straddling his waist and about to drop his willing ass on his now excited cock.

A part of him knew it wasn't real, but he didn't care. He let himself go as the system possessed him and convinced him that there was weight on his lap and that the phantom made of Heero's recorded energy had grabbed his shoulders and was preparing to ride his actual ridiculously hard erection. He bit down hard against his lower lip and moaned as every neuron on his body activated with burning energy. The black ferroelectric flight suit pinned his now painful erection against the flat of his abdomen below his belly button. He fumbled around blindly for the zipper clasp on the front of his suit and eventually found it against his throat. He pulled it all the way down to expose the entire length of his torso as well as his now sticky hard-on.

"Oh … fuck… oh fuck…." he panted as he attempted to yank off his gloves. It was at that moment that the phantom Heero dropped down onto him. He felt as if something was crushing everything in his crotch, when in reality it was his own hand strangling his own cock with a tight, frantic grasp.

He had forgotten about the opposite side of the feed he would experience. When he and Heero had done this Duo had felt both Heero's emotions and his physical awareness, which meant that he could feel himself penetrate his lover and felt Heero's sensations from recieving that penetration as well.

His breath hitched as his brain told him he was being forced upon. He reflexively tensed and moaned. His entire body began to tingle as he stroked himself in rhythm with the memories and sensations from that night presented to him by Wing-One.

He didn't last long. The sensations were too intense and his body could hardly contain itself. His climax came in the form of a violent, rapid seizure. His body began to shake from head to toe and his jaw clenched painfully as his hot ejaculate shot out from beneath his hand and floated into the air, weightless within the cabin. He panted within the helmet and felt involuntary tears run down his face as his entire body convulsed with sensory overload.

He had forgotten about the shaking. It had happened the first time he had done this with Heero. He grabbed his helmet with trembling hands and yanked it off of his head and tossed it up in the air. It floated overhead with the errant, runaway wad of his semen. He doubled over hard and buried his face in his hands and tried to steady his breathing.

"DUO! DUO! DUO! DUO!"

"W… what!?" He forced his voice through a convulsion.

"MESSAGE! MESSAGE! DUO! FOR DUO!" Haro wailed desperately. He lifted his head weakly and turned to look at the monitor to his right. His suit had received a transmission. Strangely it wasn't assigned to any ship or vehicle.

He leaned in and peered at the words. His eyes widened in surprise.

 **NOBODY PUTS BABY IN A CORNER.**

"HOLY SHIT!" He practically screamed with excitement as he realized what it meant. Heero was alive and had used his code. Somehow he had managed to send it to him. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner," was Duo's code that he used when he needed assistance with the use of full force. He saw a series of numbers attached to the end of the statement. He recognized them immediately as the coordinates for MO-V.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the delay on this one. The commission I am writing is kicking my butt. I am getting through it quickly, so hopefully we can get back to this on the daily soon. :)


	58. Chapter 58

Part One

"Where are you taking me?" asked Heero as he followed close behind Commander Armonia with his usual pair of guards striding confidently at his sides. The halls were empty, as it was nearly 2200 UTC and all of the training pilots and staff were beginning to turn down for the evening.

She didn't turn around to look at him as she spoke. "I think it's finally time that you meet the purveyor of our ideals," she said in her usual cool tone.

Heero's spine straightened automatically. "You mean your commander. Your leader?"

Armonia waved a hand dismissively. "I suppose you can call him that, yes."

Finally, Heero thought with a sigh. _I can't leave yet. Even if my transmission went through… I need to know who this person is. I need to put a face to the man or woman behind all of this._ His mind began to race with possibilities and his imagination immediately supplied the familiar image of the thigh-high boot clad figure of Treize Khushrenada, seated behind an ornate desk, prepared to give him a lecture about the fate of the world.

Who else could it be?

 _He's here. On this rock, somewhere behind these walls…_

 **RED ALERT. RED ALERT. RED ALERT.**

The dimly lit halls suddenly illuminated with blinding, flashing red light as a monotonous, calm computer voice announced sudden, incoming danger. Armonia spun around on her heels and looked down the hallway in the direction of the training area. A door that Heero could only assume led to the barracks sudden burst open with stunned, confused personnel flooding the hall. The pilots and logistics specialists scattered in a chaotic swarm, tugging on flight suits and fumbling with uniform collars as they made a beeline to their respective stations.

"All hands on deck. All essential and nonessential personnel to battle stations. Incoming enemy mobile suit!" a grizzled Sergeant Major bellowed from nearby as he directed traffic with his knife-handed movements.

"Looks like we're going to have to postpone this little meeting, Bet-" Commander Armonia's statement was cut short by Heero's boot to her face.

She landed hard against the wall and slumped to a sit, stunned as Heero bolted past her and ran as fast as he could down the hall, weaving and ducking through the mass of staff collected within.

"Throttle him!" One of his guards screamed. Heero could feel the collar on his throat tighten. His legs pounded against the floor as hard as they could in an attempt to put as much distance between him and the guards as possible.

 _Range… I have to get out of range,_ he thought as the collar began to strangle him. His lungs started to burn and dark spots manifested his peripheral vision as the blood flow to his brain was being restricted.

It was then that the ground began to shake, forcing him to trip over his own feet and skid to a stop on his hands and knees. A cacophony of screams and commanding yells filled the halls. Another shake, then a violent jolt sent Heero's body slamming to the left wall as the gravity shifted wildly beneath him. The collar around his neck immediately went slack. Not questioning how or why, he jumped unsteadily to his feet, gasped and stumbled forward despite the quaking of the ground beneath him.

 _Duo… not yet. I'm so close,_ he thought frantically as he searched the mayhem unfolding in the hall in front of him. He couldn't leave yet.

Part Two

"Ha ha ha, you bastards! Didn't see me comin', did ya? Nobody ever sees Death comin', do they, buddy?" Duo's voice was shrill and excited as it permeated through his NEU Wing-One Immersion helmet.

"AFFIRMATIVE! AFFIRMATIVE!" Haro bleated loudly from within the cockpit. With his hands firmly grasping the controls Duo spun Gundam Lucifer's twin beam scythes in long, sweeping arcs. Bright white, glistening electric discharge arced from the violet blades as the beams came in contact with MO-V's formidable shield generators.

 _"Alright, enough showing off. I think they've got the hint,"_ Wufei's voice spoke up firmly in Duo's mind through the NEU Wing-One connection, his mentally broadcasted tone held the same lilted irritation as it did in person. _"Move out of the way so I can try to overload their shields. At least we can try to take out a quadrant or two…"_

Duo could see the Zhanashi's position behind him on his helmet's internal battlefield display. Wufei's stealth ship had fluctuating power reads, which meant that it was preparing to fire on the resource satellite. He knew that hiding in the nearby asteroid field would be a couple of squadrons of ESUN Virgos. Once they had reported the position of MO-V to the Earth-Sphere authority they were quickly supplied with appropriate backup. A couple of L4 PD Virgos also had been sent out to help while the rest of the protective forces surrounding the colonies and the moon were being assembled around their respective lagrangian points just in case the battle shifted from MO-V to the Earth-Sphere proper.

This wasn't a private mission now. It was a full-on, no holds barred war against a hidden enemy and it was Duo's job to poke at the nest to get the wasps to swarm.

He didn't have to wait long.

From deep within the underbelly of the lumpy resource satellite came a scattered cloud of incoming mobile suits. Duo forced Lucifer into a backwards retreat, jetting away as fast as he could to get out of Wufei's range so he could take his shot at the resource satellite's protective shield.

"I'm sending coordinates. Try to lead the enemy there. I'll provide long-range assist," Trowa's trademark calm voice spoke up from somewhere in his head. Duo involuntarily startled, having forgotten that the former Heavyarms pilot was nearby and connected to the Wing-One communication. A set of coordinates illuminated one of his accessory panes in his helmet's visualization.

 _"Alright, keying in,"_ he replied. _"Where the hell are you anyway?"_ He had been told that Trowa would be piloting Heero's Snow White Gundam, but he couldn't see him on the battlefield anywhere.

 _"Sniping. You're not supposed to see me,"_ came Trowa's placid reply. _"Hurry they're gaining on you."_

They were. As the enemy mobile suits drew closer Duo could make out their construction. His jaw dropped within the helmet. "Are you fuckin' kiddin' me?" he blurted vocally before adding through Wing-One's mental communications, _"they're Leos!? Haro, zoom and scan!"_

"ZOOM! TRASH SUITS. MS LEO, BASIC!" Haro supplied.

"Yeah, no kiddin'," muttered Duo aloud. "Leos way the hell out here, and for space battle? This doesn't make any sense…"

"Actually, it makes a lot of sense," Noin's voice sounded over the traditional COM. "MO-V was originally one of the backwater resource satellites that manufactured mass-produced basic MS LEO suits. These must be leftovers from those days."

Duo studied the readouts as the suits gained on him. They were moving fast, clearly modified somehow. _"They've got thruster packs. They're quick. What is that, beam rifles? No shields?"_

 _"I'm detecting some with shields, but they're rudimentary at best. It seems this battle will be a numbers game,"_ explained Wufei. _"Barton, when are you going to-"_

In response, the first wave of modified Leos in front of Duo were encapsulated with bright yellow light. They immediately disintegrated, forcing the wave behind it to scatter in an attempt to avoid a second volley. Wing-One automatically traced the source of the shot. Snow White was standing propped on an asteroid just out of radar range.

 _"I need three minutes for this weapon to recharge,"_ Trowa reported. A bright violet beam blasted past Lucifer and struck the area where Duo had just scratched at MO-V, shot from Wufei's Zhanashi. The impact caused the standing shields to quiver and spark but hadn't knocked them out.

 _"Also recharging. Time to do your thing, Maxwell,"_ Wufei commanded.

Duo Grinned. _"Alright, Mantis. And remember- it's 'Cobra Commander'."_ Wufei's mental sigh was practically palpable.

"GO, COBRA! GO!" Haro squealed happily.

 _"Alright, Wing-One. Let's mow these puppies down, eh?"_ The inside of Duo's helmet temporarily illuminated with bright, yellow light as the modified ZERO battle system tugged at his brain, flooding his thoughts. He sighed and tried to remain calm as his eyes began to fill with locked targets and the endless possibilities of this massive upcoming battle. This time he was going to connect to Wing-One's full immersion alone, without Heero or anyone else to counteract its effects. The additional NEU mods that allowed for the strange subsonic waves to be negated were deactivated. The battlefield was clean, there were no subliminal weapons detected.

 _"Tell those Virgos to stay back, and Trowa- you say the word and I'll drop out, alright?"_

 _"Roger,"_ came Trowa's crisp reply.

 **Wing-One systems, activated, Cooperative mode, detecting Cobra Commander. Ready?** Wing-One's sultry computer voice prompted from inside Duo's head.

 _"I'm more than ready! Let's go."_ Duo slapped a gloved hand against the top of the gleefully spinning Haro. "Operation Ground and Pound!"

The cockpit filled with the wild, high-speed guitar melody of Dragonforce's "Operation Ground and Pound" and instantly Duo felt the comfortable weight of the ZERO system settle upon him as his brain concentrated to the music and seamlessly meshed with the battle system. He grinned, stopped Lucifer short and then darted full speed back towards the second volley of incoming MS LEO suits.

Part Three

The ground had stopped shaking, but the red alert was still blaring overhead as Heero ran the halls. He knew he was being pursued. He could hear the drone of radios behind him. He looked up at the corners of the halls where the surveillance cameras there tracking his every move. The collar had yet to constrict again. He didn't know where the source of that control was, or who was capable of activating it. He had to get this collar off, and he had to find the person responsible for-

Heero skid to a stop as a blockade of soldiers with rifles raised and pointed at him. Immediately his throat began to close as the black band shrunk around his neck. He grabbed at it with his hands and fell to his knees, gasping raggedly. "Shit."

"Funny how fate works," a grand voice spoke up from behind the blockade. One of the soldiers sidestepped to allow a man in a red suit to walk through. He padded lightly up to Heero and stood in front of him. Despite the black spots swimming in his vision Heero could make out the handsome, grinning face above him. "I came looking for you, and you run straight into me. This wasn't hard at all." The man dropped to one knee and grabbed Heero by the chin. Reflexively Heero swatted the hand away, which only won him a laugh from the jerk in the suit.

"Beta. I've been watching you for so long, it's like I already know you. Well, watching you and your little carbon copy." The man smiled brightly and leaned in to speak to him as Heero struggled to remain conscious. "Heero Yuy. My father knew your namesake well."

Heero growled irritably, clawing at the shrunken band at his throat. "Who…"

"Alejandro Corner," the man answered sharply as he stood up. "Don't worry, we'll get to know each other well. For now, we have to make our escape before your little friends make their way in. Honestly, how rude of them to show up unannounced." Alejandro said sourly. His light brown, shoulder length hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. A loose lock at his temple fell into his eyes. He brushed it away from his face and then turned on his heels to walk through the blockade. With a wave of his hand he activated his team. The uniformed men and women rushed at Heero and grabbed at him, lugged him to his feet and began dragging him down the hall.


End file.
